Distribution

The Beautiful Jay occupies a narrow elevational band on the western slope of the Andes in western Colombia and northwestern Ecuador. The northernmost locality is Cerro Tatamá, in the headwaters of the Río San Juan, near the common border of Chocó, Risaralda, and Valle (Meyer de Schauensee 1951, Hilty and Brown 1986, Renjifo et al. 2002). The jay occurs south to the province of Pichincha in northwestern Ecuador (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001a). The elevational range of Beautiful Jay in Colombia is 900-2300 m (Hilty and Brown 1986); in Ecuador, the jay is reported primarily from 1300-2000 m (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001a).

Limited to an extremely narrow range in South America.

The Beautiful Jay occurs in humid montane forest; the habitat is described as "wet mossy forest ('cloud forest')" (Hilty and Brown 1986) and "montane forest" (Ridgely and Greenfield 2001a). It is not restricted to undisturbed forest, but also occurs at forest edge and in taller second growth (Hilty and Brown 1986, Ridgely and Greenfield 2001a; see also Wellford 2000). Within this habitat, it reportedly prefers "dense understory, particularly along watercourses and in marshy areas" (BirdLife International 2009).

No historical changes in the overall distribution have been reported, although it is declining in abundance within parts of its range (see Conservation Status).

No information.