The common name for a number of species of medium-sized birds belonging to the crow family (Corvidae), most of which are colourful and highly vocal. Although all jays are crows, some are more closely related to magpies than to other jays, but all jays are named after the ‘prototype’ Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius), an omnivorous bird of variable appearance found throughout Eurasia and north-western Africa.