Eurasian jay

Garrulus glandarius

Group: Upland birds
Size class: Small (under 10 kg)
Family: Corvidae

Range

Europe
Asia

Habitat

Forest

Range

Countries it is found in

80 countries

Åland Islands
Albania
Algeria
Andorra
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Bangladesh
Belarus
Belgium
Bhutan
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bulgaria
Cambodia
China
Croatia
Cyprus
Czechia
Denmark
Estonia
Finland
France
Georgia
Germany

Range from:Wikipedia country bird lists, GBIF occurrence records — read 2026-08-05

Chapter 01

Overview

The Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) is a passerine of the crow family, a woodland bird occurring over a vast region from western Europe and north-west Africa to the Indian subcontinent and on to the eastern seaboard of Asia. Linnaeus described it in 1758 as Corvus glandarius, with 'Europa' as the locality, restricted to Sweden by Ernst Hartert in 1903. It is now one of three species in the genus Garrulus, established in 1760.

Chapter 02

Identification

A relatively small corvid, about the size of a jackdaw, 34–35 cm long with a 52–58 cm wingspan. The nominate race has light rufous to pinkish brown body plumage. The marks worth carrying: a whitish throat bordered on each side by a prominent black moustache stripe, a whitish forehead and crown streaked with black, a bright blue panel on the upper wing, and a black tail.

Chapter 03

Behaviour

Jays normally first breed at two years old, occasionally at one. Both sexes build the nest, usually in a fork or on a branch close to the trunk at 2–5 m, very occasionally on a building, on a base of twigs 3–15 mm thick. Feeding both in trees and on the ground, it takes a wide range of invertebrates including many pest insects, acorns, beech and other seeds, fruit such as blackberries and rowan berries, young birds and eggs, bats and small rodents. The diet shifts with the season, but what makes the jay notable is its prolific caching of food — acorns above all, buried for the winter.

Field data

Tracks

A photograph of real sign left by Eurasian jay. Prints vary with gait, ground and how long they have been there — treat this as one example, not a template.

Track photo:Simone Bocca CC BY SA

Sources

Sources: Eurasian jay — Wikipedia — read 2026-08-05

Turdus pilaris

Same order (Passeriformes)

Europe