#ground jay

[best-bird-tournament]

Ground jay (Podoces)

Which is the best bird?

Mongolian ground jay

Pleske's ground jay

Turkestan ground jay

Voting ended onMay 29, 2025

[birdstudies]

November 25, 2019 - Xinjiang Ground-jay or Biddulph's Ground-jay (Podoces biddulphi)

Found only in the Taklamakan Desert in northwestern China, these jays inhabit scrub, sandy desert, and desert poplar. Foraging mostly on the ground, they feed on seeds, grains, and other plant foods, as well as small animals. They build compact bowl-shaped nests from twigs, rootlets, grass, dry leaves, hair, feathers, and soft plant fibers in shrubs or trees. They are classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN due to habitat degradation and fragmentation caused by livestock grazing, oil extraction, wood harvesting, and land conversion.

[birdstudies]

May 27, 2017 - Turkestan Ground-jay or Pander's Ground-jay (Podoces panderi)

These corvids are found in parts of Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan. Their omnivorous diet is probably made up of invertebrates, along with seeds, grains, and other plant foods. Both parents help build the nests from thin branches and twigs. These are cup-shaped when built in Atraphaxis spinosa (a plant in the knotweed family) bushes, which offer good cover for the nests, and dome-shaped in other shrubs. Females incubate the eggs. Though they are classified as a species of Least Concern, their population is likely declining due to destruction of their desert habitat.

[birdstudies]

July 3, 2016 - Henderson's Ground-jay, Mongolian Ground-jay, Black-tailed Ground-jay, Henderson’s Ground-chough, or Mongolian Desert Jay (Podoces hendersoni)

These jays are found in desert and semi-desert areas of Russia, Mongolia, and China. They are omnivorous, eating mostly insects, and sometimes small lizards, during the breeding season. Although they can fly, they seem to prefer to stay near the ground. Their long legs are well adapted to running and jumping. Little is known about their breeding habits, though they probably lay their eggs in March and April.