The Perisoreus canadensis is known by many names: the Gray Jay, Canada Jay, and Whiskey Jack, but it is mainly called the Gray Jay. The Gray Jay has eleven subspecies and is a member of the family Corvidae. A Gray Jay lays an average of three eggs a season. It takes about seventeen days for the eggs to hatch. The average lifespan for a Gray Jay is about fifteen and a half years.                                                                                                                                                       

Gray Jays are stocky, fairly large songbirds with short, stout bills. They are about ten inches in length. They have round heads and long tails, and broad, rounded wings. Gray Jays are dark gray on the top and light gray below (on their belly), with black on the rear of their head. Younglings usually have a black, sooty plumage all over. Gray Jays have a special adaptation for catching their food. They have extra-large mandibular salivary glands that produce sticky spit which they use as a glue to catch their food, kind of like a spider web. Some of their identifying characteristics are their dark crowns, short beaks, and fluffy plumage.  It is said also that they have whitish “whiskers.”                                                                                                                                                    

Gray Jays can be found in Northern United States and Canada. They can also be found in area with a high elevation. They tend to make their homes in forest with black or white Spruce trees. Gray Jays are common, but since majority live up north, it becomes hard to keep track of their population on a large scale. Since their population is plentiful, its conservation status is “least concerned,” as said by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). This means that they aren’t concerned about this bird going extinct. Gray Jays have shown lower breeding success in the south. It might be because the warm temperature causes their saved food items to spoil. The Gray Jays population is also declining because they get caught in mammal traps.  

                                 

The Gray Jay's diet consists of fruits, seeds, insects, and fungi. Gray Jays store food using their special saliva that molds their food into a sticky blob. Gray Jays rip off pieces of their food by twisting and tugging. Gray Jays are also known for stealing food from people and campsites. That is why they are sometimes called the Camp Robber. Gray Jays are prey to many birds such as the Great Gray Owl, Mexican Spotted Owl, and the Northern-Hawk Owls. Remains of this bird were found in the nest of fishers and American Martens. Red squirrels also feed on Gray Jay eggs. Gray Jays warn each other about approaching predators by chirping alarm notes.                                               

I have learned many things about the Gray Jay but there were a few very interesting things that stood out to me. First of all, Gray Jays don’t migrate during the winter. Instead they stay in their nest. Also, a Gray Jay’s call is a mainly soft “whee-ah.” Finally, Gray Jay skeletons were found in a cave in Tennessee. Those bones dated back to almost eighteen- thousand years ago. Although, the Gray Jay isn’t a well-known bird, it is still very interesting.

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Author: Kavn A.

Date published: 2/2014                                                                                                                                                                  

Sources:              

Author unknown. Gray Jays. Wikipedia. January 21 2014. February 15, 2014.                      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Jay

Dietz, Matthew. Perisoreus Canadensis. Animal Diversity Web. 2001. February 16, 2014.  http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Perisoreus_canadensis/#economic_importan ce_positive

Peterson, Roger. Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America. New York; Houghton Mifflin    Harcourt, 2010.

Phillipsen, Ivan. Gray Jays. Wild Pacific Northwest. February 20, 2012. February 15 2014.

http://www.wildpnw.com/2012/02/20/gray-jay/#.Uv-OhPldUZ9

 

Photo Credit:  Walter Siegmund. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Perisoreus_canadensis_0729.JPG