Crows (Corvidae)

Purplish-backed Jay (Cyanocorax beecheii) - HBW 14, p. 580

French: Geai à dos violet German: Trauerblaurabe Spanish: Chara de Beechey
Other common names: Beechey's Jay

Taxonomy: Pica Beecheii Vigors, 1829, Montereale = Mazatlán, Sinaloa or San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico.
This species and C. melanocyaneus, C. sanblasianus and C. yucatanicus were formerly placed together in a separate genus, Cissilopha (the black-and-blue jays of Middle America). Monotypic.

Distribution: Pacific coastal lowlands of NW Mexico from S Sonora (Alamos) S to N Nayarit (S to Sauta).