Other Names (World)
Eurasian Jay, Common Jay, European Jay, Acorn Jay, White-eared Jay, Black-crowned Jay (cervicalis group), Black-capped Jay (atricapillus group), Iranian Jay (hyrcanus), Brandt's Jay (brandtii group), Japanese Jay (japonicus group), Himalayan Jay (bispecularis group), Red-crowned Jay (bispecularis group), White-faced Jay (leucotis group), Jay Pie
Genetic research into relationships among these groups has so far been limited, but revealed only minor differences of little significance. Numerous additional forms have been described, all of doubtful validity, the majority referable to intermediate populations, and these are best treated as synonyms of recognized subspecies: thus, armoricanus and caledoniensis are synonyms of rufitergum, septentrionalis of nominate, lusitanicus of fasciatus, and yugoslavicus and jordansi of albipectus; oenops and theresae are synonyms of minor; rhodius, zervasi, chiou, susianae and hansguentheri are synonyms of anatoliae, and nigifrons of krynicki; caspius is a synonym of hyrcanus; sewerzowii, bambergi, pallidifrons, kurilensis and ussuriensis are synonyms of brandtii, and diaphorus is a synonym of pekingensis; namiyei is a synonym of japonicus, and schimoizumii of hiugaensis; and insularis is a synonym of taivana, persaturatus and azureitinctus are synonyms of interstinctus, and rufescens, rubrosus and minhoensis are synonyms of sinensis.
The following 40 subspecies are recognised:
hibernicus Witherby & Hartert, 1911 - Ireland.
rufitergum Hartert, 1903 - Central and southern Scotland, England, Wales and north-western France.
glandarius (Linnaeus, 1758) - Northern and central Europe east to Urals.
fasciatus (Brehm, AE, 1857) - Spain and Portugal.
severtzowi Bogdanov, 1871 - Scandinavia and western Russia.
corsicanus Laubmann, 1912 - Corsica.
lusitanicus Voous, 1953 - Northern Portugal and northern Spain.
ichnusae Kleinschmidt, O, 1903 - Sardinia.
albipectus Kleinschmidt, O, 1920 - Italy, Sicily and Dalmatian coast.
graecus Keve-Kleiner, 1939 - Western Balkans, including mainland Greece.
ferdinandi Keve-Kleiner, 1944 - Eastern Bulgaria and adjacent northern Thrace.
jordansi Keve, 1966 - Sicily.
cretorum Meinertzhagen, R, 1920 - Crete.
glaszneri Madarász, 1902 - Cyprus.
whitakeri Hartert, 1903 - Northern Morocco and north-western Algeria.
minor Verreaux, J, 1857 - Central Morocco and Saharan Atlas range of Algeria.
cervicalis Bonaparte, 1853 - Northern and north-eastern Algeria and Tunisia.
samios Keve-Kleiner, 1939 - Samos and possibly Kos (Greece), in south-eastern Aegean Sea.
anatoliae Seebohm, 1883 - Western, central and eastern Turkey east to northern Iraq and western Iran.
iphigenia Sushkin & Ptuschenko, 1914 - Crimea.
krynicki Kaleniczenko, 1839 - Caucasus and north-eastern Turkey.
atricapillus Geoffroy Saint-Hilaire, I, 1832 - Western Syria, western Jordan and adjacent part of Israel.
hyrcanus Blanford, 1873 - Southern Caspian forests of south-eastern Azerbaijan and northern Iran.
brandtii Eversmann, 1842 - Southern Siberia from Urals east to Sakhalin I, south to northern Mongolia, north-western and north-eastern China, Korea and northern Japan (Hokkaido).
kansuensis Stresemann, 1928 - Central China (Qinghai, Gansu and north-western Sichuan).
sinensis Swinhoe, 1871 - SC, southern and eastern China and northern Myanmar.
taivanus Gould, 1863 - Taiwan.
bispecularis Vigors, 1831 - Western Himalayas east to western Nepal. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Plain-crowned Jay (Garrulus bispecularis).
persaturatus Hartert, 1918 - Northern India (Khasi Hills of Assam).
oatesi Sharpe, 1896 - North-western Myanmar.
haringtoni Rippon, 1905 - Western Myanmar.
leucotis Hume, 1874 - Central and eastern Myanmar, southern China (southern Yunnan), Thailand and central and southern Indochina. Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, White-faced Jay (Garrulus leucotis).
The Reader's Digest Book of British Birds 1980, 3rd Edition, Drive Publications Ltd ISBN 0 340 25308 8
Birds in Colour Campbell, B., 1960, Penguin Books Ltd
The Pocket Guide to Nest and Eggs Fitter, R.S.R., 1954, Collins
RSPB Handbook of British Birds Holden, P., Cleeves, T., 2002, A & C Black ISBN 0 7136 5713 8
Birds of Britain and Europe Sterry, P., et al., 2001, AA Publishing ISBN 0 7495 3068 5
The Popular Handbook of British Birds Hollom, P.A.D., 1973, H.F. & G. Witherby Ltd ISBN 0 85493 002 7