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CERRILLOS HILLS STATE PARK

Jays, Magpies, Crows, Ravens




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American Crow - confirmed presence

Corvus brachyrhynchos

Size: 18" [45.7 cm] - Crow & Jay

Glossy black, bill heavy, black. Flight rounded wings, fingered wing tips, squarish tail, rounded corners. Bold, noisy.


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Black-billed Magpie - confirmed presence

Pica pica

Size: 20" [50.8 cm] - Crow and Jay

Head, chest, back, rump, vent black; belly and long shoulder patch white; wings, tail iridescent purple and green; bill stout, black; tail long, wedge-shaped tip.

Mobs larger birds. Communal roosts. Flight: see white primaries.

In Keres culture this is the bird associated with East, which is the white direction.


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Blue Jay - rare

Cyanocitta cristata

LS reports: recorded
MR reports: Blue Jay is indeed rare, but twice seen in Cerrillos in fall 2001.

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Common Raven - confirmed presence

Corvus corax

Size: 24" [61.0 cm] - Crow & Jay

Glossy black; bill black, very heavy; throat long; shaggy feathers. Flight pointed wings, fingered wingtips, long wedge-shaped tail. Soars a lot.


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Pinyon Jay - confirmed presence

Pinyon Jay Pinyon Jay
Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus

Size: 10" [25.4 cm] - Crow & Jay

All dull blue; faint white streaks throat; bill black, chisel-like; tail shorter than other jays; even flight; very social, large flocks.


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Steller's Jay - winter visitor

Steller's Jay
Cyanocitta stelleri

LS reports: recorded spring 1996, spring 1998.
MR reports: wintered in the village during winter 2002-03, with as many as 12 birds seen at one time.

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Western Scrub-Jay - confirmed presence

Aphelocoma californica

Size: 13" [33.0 cm] - Crow & Jay

Back gray-brown, belly gray, crown, hindneck, partial necklace, wings, rump, tail blue, throat white with faint blue streaks, tail long, rounded.


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IN OTHER NEIGHBORHOODS

Sighted at the Leonora Curtin Wetland Preserve (a lush, well-watered preserve 3 miles [4.8 kilometers] north of Cerro Bonanza, near La Ciénega.)

Western Scrub Jay, Black-billed Magpie, American Crow, Common Raven - ALL YEAR

Sighted at the Ortiz Mountains Educational Preserve (an isolated high mountain group -- 7,000 to 9,000 feet [2,133.6 to 2,743.2 meters] elevation -- eight miles [12.9 kilometers] south of Cerrillos.)

Stellar's jay - May '02
Scrub Jay - summer '02
Common Raven - Apr '03
Steller's Jay, Western Scrub-Jay, Pinyon Jay, Common Raven - as of '04





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and is dedicated to the creation, enhancement and stewardship
of an historical, recreational, and cultural open space in the
Cerrillos Hills, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, USA



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This page last revised 25 October 2009