White-throated Magpie-Jay
Photo © Dan Vickers
Photo © Dan Vickers — CC BY 4.0 — Source: iNaturalist photo #458087519The white-throated magpie-jay (Cyanocorax formosus) is a large Central American species of magpie-jay. It ranges in Pacific-slope thorn forest from Jalisco, Mexico, to Northern Puntarenas, Costa Rica. Magpie-jays are noisy, gregarious birds, often traveling in easy-to-find flocks, mobbing their observers. == Taxonomy == The white-throated magpie-jay was formally described in 1827 by the English naturalist William Swainson from a specimen that had been collected by the naturalist William Bullock in Temascaltepec, Mexico. Swainson coined the binomial name Pica formosa. The specific epithet is from the Latin formosus meaning "beautiful". The white-throated magpie-jay and the black-throated magpie-jay were formerly placed in their own genus Calocitta. When molecular phylogenetic studies found that the genus Cyanocorax was paraphyletic relative to Calocitta, the two species were subsumed into Cyanocorax to resolve the paraphyly. Three subspecies are recognised: C. f. formosus (Swainson, 1827) – Colima, Michoacán and Puebla south to Oaxaca (southwest Mexico) C. f. azureus (Nelson, 1897) – Oaxaca and Chiapas (southeast Mexico) and west Guatemala C. f. pompatus (Bangs, 1914) – east Chiapas (southeast Mexico) and east Guatemala to northwest Costa Rica The white-throated magpie-jay hybridizes in Jalisco with the black-throated magpie-jay (C. colliei), with which it forms a superspecies. == Description ==…
Corcovado National Park
Puerto Jiménez, Costa Rica
+444 birds+48 mammals
Where the Osa Peninsula juts into the Pacific, rainforest descends almost to the tide line, and Corcovado National Park protects one of Central America's most intact…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKManuel Antonio National Park
Quepos, Costa Rica
+426 birds+22 mammals
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VIEW NATIONAL PARKArenal Volcano National Park
Peñas Blancas, Costa Rica
+551 birds+21 mammals
Straddling the border between Alajuela and Guanacaste in northwestern Costa Rica, this national park rises dramatically around one of Central America's most active volcanic systems. The…
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Roxana, Costa Rica
+420 birds+23 mammals
Canals and lagoons thread through a labyrinth of lowland rainforest where the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica meets the wetland frontier. This is terrain shaped by…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKBraulio Carrillo National Park
Las Horquetas, Costa Rica
+547 birds+18 mammals
Where the Caribbean slope descends from the central volcanic cordillera toward the humid lowlands of Heredia, Braulio Carrillo National Park preserves one of Costa Rica's most…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPiedras Blancas National Park
Golfito, Costa Rica
+386 birds+24 mammals
Where the Golfo Dulce meets the southwestern Pacific coast of Costa Rica, Piedras Blancas National Park protects a dramatic transition zone where lowland rainforest descends toward…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKSanta Rosa National Park
Santa Elena, Costa Rica
+359 birds+30 mammals
Where Pacific-facing slopes descend from volcanic uplands toward the Guanacaste lowlands, Santa Rosa National Park unfolds across a mosaic of tropical dry forest, gallery woodland, and…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKGuanacaste National Park
Santa Elena, Costa Rica
+461 birds+17 mammals
Where the Pacific slopes of northwestern Costa Rica rise toward the Continental Divide, dry tropical forest gives way to cloud-laden peaks and misty ridges—a landscape that…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKParque Nacional Cerro de la Estrella
Mexico
+126 birds+4 mammals
Where volcanic peaks rise sharply above Mexico City's sprawling metropolis, Parque Nacional Cerro de la Estrella offers a rare glimpse of high-altitude terrain within one of…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKParque Nacional Grutas de Cacahuamilpa
Pilcaya, Mexico
+97 birds+12 mammals
Where limestone ridges rise abruptly from the tropical deciduous forests of central Guerrero, the Grutas de Cacahuamilpa National Park shelters one of Mexico's most extensive cave…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCarara National Park
Tárcoles, Costa Rica
+397 birds+19 mammals
Where the Pacific coastal plain meets transitional forest, Carara National Park straddles one of Central America's most dynamic ecological boundaries. The park's landscape encompasses lowland deciduous…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKPalo Verde National Park
Bagaces, Costa Rica
+318 birds+24 mammals
Dry forest spreads across Palo Verde's low-lying terrain in northwestern Guanacaste, where seasonal rivers and lagoons etch through deciduous woodland that sheds its canopy each winter.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKRincón de la Vieja National Park
Liberia, Costa Rica
+451 birds+30 mammals
Where volcanic slopes rise abruptly from the Guanacaste lowlands, Rincón de la Vieja National Park sprawls across a landscape shaped by geothermal drama and seasonal extremes.…
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Orosi, Costa Rica
+503 birds+18 mammals
Where montane cloud forest rises steeply from the Orosi Valley, Tapantí Macizo de la Muerte National Park enfolds a landscape of perpetual moisture and emerald complexity.…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKVolcán Tenorio National Park
Guatuso, Costa Rica
+480 birds+12 mammals
Where volcanic slopes rise through Costa Rica's northwestern borderlands, Volcán Tenorio National Park sprawls across terrain shaped by ancient lava flows and mineral-rich springs. The park's…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMarino Ballena National Park
Bahía Ballena, Costa Rica
+336 birds+8 mammals
Where mangrove forests meet coral-fringed shorelines along Costa Rica's southern Pacific coast, Marino Ballena National Park encompasses a marine and terrestrial mosaic that ranks among Central…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKMarino Las Baulas National Park
Santa Cruz, Costa Rica
+246 birds+9 mammals
Where the Pacific meets a mosaic of dry forest and mangrove estuary, this coastal national park protects one of Central America's most dynamic wildlife theatres. The…
VIEW NATIONAL PARKCaño Negro National Wildlife Refuge
Caño Negro District, Costa Rica
+486 birds+16 mammals
Where the San Juan River's seasonal floodplain opens into expansive wetlands, Caño Negro Wildlife Sanctuary sprawls across one of Central America's most productive freshwater ecosystems. This…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYBarra del Colorado National Wildlife Refuge
Tortuguero, Costa Rica
+462 birds+36 mammals
Where the Caribbean's restless waters meet the Limón Province coastline, Barra del Colorado National Wildlife Sanctuary unfolds across a landscape of extraordinary ecological complexity. This equatorial…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYOstional National Wildlife Refuge
Ostional, Costa Rica
+18 birds
Where the Pacific meets the dry forest of northwestern Costa Rica, Ostional National Wildlife Sanctuary protects one of Central America's most dynamic coastal ecosystems. This slender…
VIEW WILDLIFE SANCTUARYCurú National Wildlife Refuge
Paquera, Costa Rica
+249 birds+8 mammals
Where the Pacific coast of Puntarenas dissolves into dry deciduous forest and mangrove fringe, Curú Wildlife Sanctuary holds one of Costa Rica's most ecologically vital yet…
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