CreatureData

Purplish-backed jay

Cyanocorax beecheii (Vigors, 1829)

LCLeast Concernsongbirds

The purplish-backed jay (Cyanocorax beecheii) is a species in the family Corvidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 193 g to 194 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.

Purplish-backed jay (Cyanocorax beecheii)
Photo: en:User:Cburnett · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the purplish-backed jay

Weight
193 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
5src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the purplish-backed jay

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Purplish-backed jay (Cyanocorax beecheii)
en:User:Cburnett · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the purplish-backed jay live?

Not recorded

What is the purplish-backed jay?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The purplish-backed jay (Cyanocorax beecheii) is a bird of the crow family Corvidae, with purple feathers on its back, wings, and tail and black feathers elsewhere. It is endemic to northwestern Mexico, where its habitat is mainly dry deciduous forest. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has assessed it as being a "species of least concern".

From the Wikipedia article “Purplish-backed jay” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Purplish-backed_jay&oldid=1380701493), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the purplish-backed jay endangered?

The purplish-backed jay is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species. What the categories mean.

How is the purplish-backed jay classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familyCorvidae
  6. genusCyanocorax
  7. SpeciesCyanocorax beecheii (Vigors, 1829)

Synonyms Cissilopha beecheii, Cissilopha beecheii beecheii, Pica beecheii

Other names and names in other languages (40)
  • عقعق أرجواني الظهرArabic
  • gaig de BeecheyCatalan
  • sojka modrofialováCzech
  • Stor BlåskadeDanish
  • IndigoblaurabeGerman
  • Trauer-BlauhäherGerman
  • TrauerblauhäherGerman
  • TrauerblaurabeGerman
  • violdorsa garoloEsperanto
  • Chara de BeechySpanish
  • Arrendajo de BeechySpanish
  • Arrendajo sinaloenseSpanish
  • Chara de BeecheySpanish
  • Chara sinaloenseSpanish
  • Urraca de BeechySpanish
  • tõmmu-sininäärEstonian
  • meksikonharakkaFinnish
  • Geai à dos violetFrench
  • Geai-bleu à dos violetFrench
  • ljubičastoleđa šojkaCroatian
  • özvegy indigószajkóHungarian
  • Ghiandaia dorsoviolaItalian
  • Ghiandaia dorsopurpureoItalian
  • スミレヌレバカケスJapanese
  • dvispalvis margasis kėkštasLithuanian
  • Zhį́ʼii dootłʼizhí binághah tsédídéhígííNavajo
  • PurperruggaaiDutch
  • purpurryggskrikeNorwegian
  • modrowronka dużaPolish
  • gaio-de-dorso-púrpuraPortuguese
  • gaio-de-dorso-violetaPortuguese
  • Траурная сойкаRussian
  • Траурная чёрно-синяя сойкаRussian
  • kapuciarka smútočnáSlovak
  • Ljubičastoleđa krejaSerbian
  • purpurryggig skrikaSwedish
  • Mor Sırtlı Mavi KargaTurkish
  • пая великаUkrainian
  • 紫背冠鴉Chinese
  • 紫背冠鸦Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the purplish-backed jay

Other species in the same genus Cyanocorax.

LC, Least Concern
Inca jay (Cyanocorax yncas)

Inca jay

Cyanocorax yncas

Corvidae

LC, Least Concern
Yucatan jay (Cyanocorax yucatanicus)

Yucatan jay

Cyanocorax yucatanicus

Corvidae

ComparePurplish-backed jay vs Plush-crested jayPurplish-backed jay vs Inca jayPurplish-backed jay vs Black-throated magpie-jayPurplish-backed jay vs Yucatan jay

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the purplish-backed jay?

An adult purplish-backed jay weighs 193 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the purplish-backed jay endangered?

The purplish-backed jay is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.

What kind of animal is the purplish-backed jay?

The purplish-backed jay (Cyanocorax beecheii) belongs to the family Corvidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Purplish-backed jay (Cyanocorax beecheii). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/purplish-backed-jay

MLA

“Purplish-backed jay (Cyanocorax beecheii).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/purplish-backed-jay.

BibTeX
@misc{purplish_backed_jay_2026,
  title = {Purplish-backed jay (Cyanocorax beecheii)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/purplish-backed-jay},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}