Green Jay, Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Los Fresnos, Texas March 2019

The Green Jay (Cyanocorax yncas) is a stunner! Though the common name references the overall body color of this species, the first part of its binomial translates as dark blue raven (which is the predominate feature of the members of this genus). As with others in the crow family, these birds are highly intelligent. They are known tool users, employing sticks to remove insects from tree bark.