from the back

and from the front

Here’s the Scrub Jay for comparison:

Mexican Jays always travel in packs.  Our tour guide, Matt Brown, explained that it’s because the Mexican Jays are raised communally, i.e. aunts and uncles feed the babies too.  As a result, the babies bond with everyone and they live as a group.  So if you only see one Mexican Jay the other jays are close behind.

Their calls are the least abrasive jay noise I’ve ever heard.  It’s more like a chirp unless the birds get really excited.  Then it sounds a little like a Stellar Jay.  Blue Jays sound so irritated when they call that Audrey thinks their kin.  If I haven’t mentioned it before, Audrey has the most obnoxious whining and piercing call.  I jokingly put on his Facebook page yesterday that he wants to apply for this job.