The White-throated Magpie-Jay (Calocitta formosa) has a white belly, with turquoise blue on its back, wings, and tail, and some black lines near its face. It is notable for its long, stepped tail, black beak and legs, and its extravagant crest of long feathers curling forward or backward. On average, it measures 46 cm and weighs 205 g.
It searches for large insects, such as caterpillars, cockroaches, beetle larvae, frogs, and small lizards, among banana leaf bases, hanging tangles, and leaf litter. It also feeds on eggs, chicks of other birds, and many fruits, including corn, as well as nectar from large flowers.
Adults defend territories of 10 to 12 hectares year-round. They travel in noisy and scattered flocks of five to ten individuals. A group is typically composed of females with one or two males and young less than two years old. Males disperse once they reach foraging success similar to their parents (between thirteen and eighteen months), while females remain in the group for life.
The nest, built at a height of 6 to 30 meters in a tree, is a bulky collection of twigs supporting a well-finished cup of rootlets and wire-like fibers. The female lays 3 or 4 eggs, gray with fine brown speckles, between February and July.