Azure-hooded Jay

This corvid is known to join mixed-species flocks with other species including unicolored jays and emerald toucanets. It is also known to travel in groups with two to ten other azure-hooded jays. It is a skulking and secretive species, rarely coming out into the open. Because of this habit, the bird is extremely difficult to observe in the wild and not much is known about its ecology. Mates are known to preen each other, a process which entails one bird bending over in front of the other and tugging on its throat feathers. The feathers of the crown are often moving swiftly, and it is believed that the condition of a mate can be determined by this movement. Like other jays, this species is likely extremely intelligent. Similar species are known to use ants to keep their feathers clean, store seeds and nuts for later consumption, and use their toes to hold food. However, due to its secretive nature, these characteristics have not yet been observed in the species. The bird's bright plumage makes it easy for predators to find this species. Whenever the jay feels threatened, it gives off a warning alarm call.

This species is known from Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, southeastern Mexico, and western Panama. It lives in humid evergreen forests that are sometimes interspersed with pine trees. It can be found at the edges of these forests typically in the middle and higher levels within these trees. It is also normally found only where cloud forest is uninterrupted.

This jay is treated as a species of Least Concern, or not threatened with extinction, by BirdLife International due to its large geographical range of about 42,500 square miles (110,000 km), population which, while unsurveyed, is believed to be above 10,000 individuals, and lack of a 30% population decline over the last ten years. However, the azure-hooded jay is uncommon in some parts of its range. It is also believed that deforestation may have an effect on this bird.