IDENTIFICATION

VOCALISATIONS

The usual call, often uttered twice in succession, is a harsh ‘skeeaaar’ or ‘kyaar’. Also gives drawn out mewing calls.

DISTRIBUTION & HABITAT PREFERENCE

When Eurasian Jays were regularly seen in HK, they were typically recorded in ones, twos or small parties in forest or occasionally in shrubland. Whilst there were some reports from secondary broadleaf forest, most were from plantations, especially those of Chinese Red Pine Pinus massoniana on hillsides around Tai Mo Shan and in catchwater forests around reservoirs in the Kowloon Hills and the northeast New Territories.

Tai Po Kau and Lam Tsuen fung shui woods were regular sites from the 1960s to the 1980s but there have been no records from either of these areas this century. It was always rare away from the mainland New Territories: two were at Pok Fu Lam Reservoir on HK Island on 25 September 1959, three were at Kowloon Park on 18 September 1972, one was near Po Lin Monastery, Lantau on 28 December 1977, up to five were on Crooked Island during 1984-85 and one was at King’s Park, Kowloon on 18 November 1985. In addition, a record of two on Crooked Island from 15 April to 12 July 2012 was considered to involve breeding birds.

There are also reports of single birds from Mai Po on 4 June 1988 and 5 September 1989. The individual at Mai Po in 1988 was trapped and clearly ex-captive, and it is possible that, other than the Crooked Island records, all such observations may refer to escaped or released birds, though their timing is consistent with post-breeding dispersal of the wild population.

OCCURRENCE

Eurasian Jay was first reported from the Pearl River region by Kershaw (1904), who collected one in Macau, while Vaughan and Jones (1913) knew this species from Ding Hu Shan in spring. The first confirmed observation from HK came from H. G. Deignan at Buffalo Peak on 30 March 1935 (Herklots 1953). Herklots found other birds at Kowloon Reservoir and Sha Tau Kok during the following month, and he also referred to previous unpublished observations in the Sha Tau Kok area, suggesting that it was not a recent arrival.

Surprisingly, it was not reported again until 1952 when single birds were at Sha Tau Kok and near Tai Po (Dove and Goodhart 1955). The number of records after 1958 suggests a marked increase occurred that peaked during 1978-85. There then occurred a decline such that the number of records did not exceed 20 during the period 1999-2020.

Interpretation of these changes is open to the usual problem of bias due to differences in observer activity, but perhaps less than for some species since identification is straightforward and recent disappearances are documented from well-watched sites such as Tai Po Kau. Certainly, since this species requires forest, it is reasonable to relate the increase between 1960 and 1980 to the general increase in tree cover in the central New Territories during this period. The reason for the subsequent decline (at least at some sites) is less obvious and, though it is tempting to relate this to changes in the nature of forest cover such as the decline of Chinese Red Pine, the ecological requirements of this species in HK are insufficiently known to permit firm conclusions to be drawn.

Records show no seasonal pattern and there is no evidence for anything other than local movements. The highest counts are parties of 12 at Tai Mei Tuk on 25 November 1978, ten at Yung Shue O on 4 December 1993 and nine at Plover Cove Reservoir on 19 July 1992 and Shing Mun Reservoir on 12 November 1995.

BREEDING

While Eurasian Jay is presumed to have bred, there are no observations of breeding behaviour. The two birds present on Kat O in summer 2012 were considered to have bred, but this was not confirmed.

BEHAVIOUR, FORAGING & DIET

In the past flocks usually comprised only this species but occasionally were associated with other forest passerines, notably Greater Necklaced Laughingthrush. At Plover Cove birds were regularly seen scavenging around picnic sites, but such behaviour does not seem to have been noted elsewhere.

RANGE & SYSTEMATICS

Polytypic, with over 30 subspecies recognised across its extensive range from Europe and northwest Africa east through southern Siberia to Japan south through much of China to the Himalayas. The taxon occurring in north and east China is G. g. sinensis (Madge and Burn 1994). In China it occurs in submontane forest areas throughout the country, though at low densities (Liu and Chen 2020).

CONSERVATION STATUS

IUCN: Least Concern. Population trend stable.