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Meet the "grue jay," a climate-change mashup of blue and green jays [1]

['Gail Sherman']

Date: 2025-10-01  

A previously impossible hybrid of a blue jay and a green jay has been discovered. While the two species are closely related enough to produce offspring, their ranges didn't overlap until recently. Climate change has moved the two into the same territory and produced a "grue jay."

The range of the green jay barely reached into Texas from Mexico in the 1950s, but warming temperatures pushed the green jays north and the blue jays to the west. Their ranges now have significant overlap near San Antonio.

The unusual bird was first spotted in a backyard and posted to eBird, a crowd-sourced data collection site backed by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Brian Stokes, a graduate student in ecology, evolution, and behavior at the University of Texas, contacted the birder who posted it and was able to capture the bird.

After taking a blood sample, the bird was banded for identification and released. Testing determined that the bird was, in fact, a hybrid of a blue jay and green jay. "We think it's the first observed vertebrate that's hybridized as a result of two species both expanding their ranges due, at least in part, to climate change," Stokes said.

Although not officially named yet, I hope the grue jay isn't named by ornithologists who hate birds.

Previously:

• Camera-equipped bird feeders capture all kinds of non-avian critters enjoying snacks!

• Watching birds up close and personal

• Birds with Arms

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[1] Url: https://boingboing.net/2025/10/01/meet-the-grue-jay-a-climate-change-mashup-of-blue-and-green-jays.html

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