# Blue jay (*Cyanocitta cristata*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-jay  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata), also called the Jay-bird, is a bird in the family Corvidae and the order Passeriformes, part of the songbirds and other perching birds. It is a small bird with an adult body mass of 88 g, and it is an omnivore living in woodland with a terrestrial, sedentary lifestyle. The blue jay lays 4.34 eggs per clutch on average, with one clutch per year and an incubation period of 17 days, and it reaches sexual maturity at 1.1 years. Its lifespan is given as 18.3 years, with values up to 26.2 years reported, and the IUCN Red List rates it Least Concern, which is not a threatened category.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 77.1 g – 88 g |
| Length | Not recorded |
| Lifespan | 18.3 years – 26.2 years |
| Diet | Omnivore |
| Main food | seeds |
| Habitat | woodland |
| Egg incubation | 17 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 4.34 |
| Age at maturity | 12 months – 15 months |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Reproduction | Eggs |
| Lifestyle | Terrestrial |
| Migration | Sedentary |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Aves
- order: Passeriformes
- family: Corvidae
- genus: Cyanocitta
- species: *Cyanocitta cristata* (Linnaeus, 1758)

Synonyms: *Corvus cristatus*, *Garrulus cristatus*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the blue jay?

The blue jay is a bird in the family Corvidae, order Passeriformes, grouped with the songbirds and other perching birds.

### How heavy is a blue jay?

An adult Blue jay weighs 88 g, which places it in the small size class.

### What does the blue jay eat?

The blue jay is an omnivore.

### How long does a blue jay live?

The blue jay's lifespan is given as 18.3 years, and values up to 26.2 years have been reported.

### Is the blue jay endangered?

No. The blue jay is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How many eggs does a blue jay lay?

The blue jay lays 4.34 eggs per clutch on average, with one clutch per year, and the eggs incubate for 17 days.

### Does the blue jay migrate?

No. The blue jay is sedentary, and it lives in woodland.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), CC0 1.0, E096-269. Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1
- [AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7), CC BY 4.0, v7. Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7
- [Catalogue of Life eXtended Release](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), CC BY 4.0, 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf
- [Wikimedia Commons](https://commons.wikimedia.org), per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed), 2026-11-11. Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence).
- [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), CC BY-SA 4.0, 2026-11-11. Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).

Cite as: Blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/blue-jay