33 (in eight groups) - see text The Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius) is a species of passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae.

The Eurasian jay was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Corvus glandarius.

[3][4] The Eurasian jay is now one of three species placed in the genus Garrulus that was established in 1760 by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson.

[12][13] A member of the widespread jay group, it inhabits mixed woodland, particularly with oaks, and is a habitual acorn hoarder.

In recent years, the bird has begun to migrate into urban areas, possibly as a result of continued erosion of its woodland habitat.

Before humans began planting the trees commercially on a wide scale, Eurasian jays were the main source of movement and propagation for the European oak (Q. robur), each bird having the ability to spread more than a thousand acorns each year.

[14] Jays have been recorded carrying single acorns as far as 20 km, and are credited with the rapid northward spread of oaks following the last ice age.

[16] The maximum recorded age is 16 years and 9 months for a bird in Skelton, York, United Kingdom, that was ringed in 1966 and found dead in 1983.

[20] In order to keep its plumage free from parasites, it lies on top of anthills with spread wings and lets its feathers be sprayed with formic acid.