Siberian Jay

The Siberian jay is a small jay of northern coniferous forest. Its plumage is subdued grey-brown rather than brightly patterned, with a darker brown crown and a paler throat. Rusty-red panels mark the bend of the wing, the undertail coverts and the sides of the tail, providing the clearest colour accents. Males and females look alike. The compact build and muted colours fit a bird that spends much of its time among the shaded branches of boreal woodland. (Wikipedia, general species account)

Its distribution extends widely through the conifer forests of northern Eurasia. The species was originally described by Linnaeus as Corvus infaustus in 1758 and is now grouped with the Canada jay and Sichuan jay in Perisoreus. The epithet infaustus means unlucky or unfortunate, reflecting an old belief that encountering this jay was a bad omen rather than any biological trait. Five subspecies are recognised, arranged across Scandinavia, Russia and Siberia within the broad boreal range. (Wikipedia, general species account)