📸 PhotoPhoto: ★Kumiko★ · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons Source
Lidth's Jay
Garrulus lidthi (Lidth's Jay · ルリカケス)
💡 Everyday Comparisons for Size, Mass & Speed
- 💡 At about 38 cm in body length, it is slightly larger than a pigeon (Kagoshima Prefectural Board of Education).
- 💡 It was designated as a National Natural Monument of Japan on March 3, 1921 (Agency for Cultural Affairs of Japan).
Reference standards: coach bus ~12 m, mid-size car ~4.9 m, compact car ~1 t, basketball hoop 3.05 m, credit card 8.56 cm.
📖 1. Overview
Lidth's Jay is a bird in the crow family endemic to Japan, found only on Amami Oshima, Kakeromajima, and Ukejima, with beautiful bluish-purple plumage.
🦴 2. Anatomy & Morphology
Slightly larger than a pigeon, it has glossy bluish-purple and chestnut-brown feathers, and a white terminal band on its tail is visible in flight.
🔍 3. Ecology & Behavior
Living in dense forests, it mainly eats chinquapin and oak acorns, nests inside tree cavities, and breeds from early February to late March. Its call is a noisy "gya-gya."
🇰🇷 4. Connection to Korea
No direct record connecting this species to Korea has been found.
📚 Sources & References
- • IUCN Red List LC (2025) — https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/22705771/265869468
- • IUCN Red List category LC — latest assessment at iucnredlist.org
- • doi.org — avilist.v2026
- • iucnredlist.org — 265869468
- • wikidata.org — Q715227
- • commons.wikimedia.org — File:Garrulus lidthi (32115610432).jpg
- • pref.kagoshima.jp — 01rurikakesu.html
- • online.bunka.go.jp — 203266
- • Silhouette: PhyloPic — Martin Bulla, based on Brian Small's illustration · CC BY 4.0 (Congeneric silhouette — Garrulus glandarius)
Recorded dimensions are widely cited representative estimates from public literature and may vary by study or specimen.