Its closest relative is the beautiful jay (C. pulchra) of Colombia and Ecuador;[2] in his 1934 study, Hellmayr treated these species as conspecific.

[3] Phylogenetic analysis published in 2009 confirmed the close relationship between the two species; Bonaccorso speculates that the geographic (and subsequent genetic) separation between these species and others in the genus Cyanolyca may have been initiated by the formation of the Río Cauca Valley in western Colombia.

[5] Cyanolyca cucullata mitrata is found in eastern Mexico, from San Luis Potosí to north central Oaxaca.

This subspecies was initially treated as a separate species by Ridgway, but it was later merged into the azure-hooded jay.

It is also known to repeat a nasal ehr-ehn or eh’enk noise twice and give off a low, gruff, hard cheh-r.[7] The alarm and flock-social calls of this species, characterized as a reek!

[8] This corvid is known to join mixed-species flocks with other species including unicolored jays and emerald toucanets.

[8] Mates are known to preen each other, a process which entails one bird bending over in front of the other and tugging on its throat feathers.

Similar species are known to use ants to keep their feathers clean, store seeds and nuts for later consumption, and use their toes to hold food.

[8] The azure-hooded jay is omnivorous, eating berries, seeds, and small, dead animals.

[12] The base of the azure-hooded jay's first studied nest was coarsely made out of twigs that were 0.08 to 0.12 inches (2 to 3 mm) long.

[12] This jay is treated as a species of Least Concern, or not threatened with extinction, by BirdLife International due to its large geographical range of about 42,500 square miles (110,000 km2), population which, while unsurveyed, is believed to be above 10,000 individuals, and lack of a 30% population decline over the last ten years.

[8] Although this species has not been observed doing this, closely related jays are known to destroy and eat human-planted crops such as orchards, cane, pineapples, and potatoes.