Family: Corvidae, Crows, Magpies, Jays view all from this family

Description 14-18" (36-46 cm). Large and long-tailed. Dusky brown above with darker brown head, paler on breast and whitish on belly and flanks. Bill thick, black in adults and yellow in immatures.

Habitat Dense streamside woodlands and thickets.

Nesting 3-5 blue-gray eggs marked with brown, in a cup of twigs, usually on a branch far out from trunk.

Range Rare resident in extreme southern Texas. Also in tropics. 

Voice A shrill pow! or kreeow!

Discussion The largest North American jay, this species has only recently colonized the lower Rio Grande Valley, where it travels in noisy flocks. The birds have deep, slow wingbeats and pump their long tails as they fly.