The Gray Jay (Perisoreus canadensis), also known as the Canada Jay or the Whiskeyjack, is a year-round resident of boreal and sub-alpine forests in all thirteen provinces and territories in Canada. The Gray Jay is a medium sized gray bird with a short bill, a dark crown, lighter bellies and long white tipped tails. The plumage in typically soft and fluffy. There are 14 subspecies two or three regional variations (Pacific, Taiga and Rocky Mountains) depending on the source.

 

Typical Call of the Gray Jay (https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/gray-jay)

Gray Jays are most often found above 3000 feet to the tree line in sub-alpine spruce forests. These birds are often found in family groups and are particularly known for their bold behavior towards humans. Gray Jays have learned that humans can be an excellent source of food and will beg for food from hikers and even steal food from campsites and cabins.  During the summer and fall Gray Jays cache food by using copious amounts of sticky saliva to paste it in crevices in bark. Unusually for songbirds Gray Jays have been known to carry food in their feet while in flight. Gray Jays are omnivores and have been known to eat seeds, berries, insects, fungi, carrion, the nestlings of other birds and human handouts.

Gray Jays are monogamous and nest in late winter. During the nesting period the parents must rely on cached food to. Relying on cached food feed their young allows and nesting in winter allows Gray Jays to avoid the perils of migration but it also means that it is vital for the birds’ reproductive success that the cached food not run out as the young leave the nest before there in any food around. Nestling in winter allows for the preservation of food by cold temperatures.

The range of the Gray Jay is large and mostly includes land that is not suitable for agriculture. This means that the Gray Jay is protected from habitat loss in the near future. However global increases in temperatures caused by carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases may have a detrimental effect on Gray Jay populations particularly at the southern edge of their range. As temperatures rise the carefully cached food reserves that Gray Jays rely upon during the winter may begin to spoil.

References

The Friends of Algonquin Park, Gray Jay Research in Algonquin Park (http://www.sbaa.ca/projects.asp?cn=495), Accessed 10/09/15

Hinterlands Who’s Who, Gray Jay (http://www.hww.ca/en/wildlife/birds/gray-jay.html) Accessed 10/23/15

National Audubon Society, Guide to North American Birds – Gray Jay (https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/gray-jay), Accessed 10/09/15

Seattle Audubon Society, Bird Web – Gray Jay (http://birdweb.org/birdweb/bird/gray_jay) Accessed 10/09/15

Van Els, P., Cicero, C., Klicka, J. 2012 High latitudes and high genetic diversity: Phylogeography of a widespread boreal bird, the gray jay (Perisoreus canadensis), Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution, 63, 456-465