Gray Jay

Scientific Name: Perisoreus canadensis

Appearance: Length: 11.5 inches (29 cm). Gray Jays are fluffy and long-tailed, with small dark bills. They are smaller than an American Robin and resemble an overgrown chickadee. Adult Gray Jays are dusky gray with a light gray underbelly, and variable amounts of gray and white on the head. Juveniles are dusky gray overall.

Where to find: Gray Jays inhabit coniferous and mixed coniferous-deciduous forests containing spruce trees. They occur in the northern boreal forests of Canada and Alaska south to subalpine forests in Arizona and New Mexico. Gray Jays are non-migratory, but some individuals move to lower elevations in the winter.

Sounds: Gray Jays are relatively quiet birds, but their vocal repertoire is large. Common sounds include: soft musical whistles “wheeoo”, a low “chuck”, and a loud, harsh grating, rapid “cla-cla-cla-cla-cla”.

Behavior: The Gray Jay is a familiar camp and cabin visitor. These tame and curious birds boldly steal food scraps, sometimes entering tents and cabins –hence the nickname “camp robbers”. They readily accept human handouts. Their unique food-storage behavior enables year-round survival in cold and hostile boreal and subalpine forests. Excess food is stored by combining it with mucus secreted by salivary glands and sticking the food to vegetation. These food caches of Gray Jays are often pillaged by Stellar’s Jays or Blue Jays.

Food Habits: Gray Jays are omnivorous and opportunistic. They eat arthropods, berries, insects, carrion, seeds, nestling birds, and fungi. Gray Jays are known to carry food with their feet; an unusual "feat" among songbirds.

Vital Statistics: The mortality rate among young Gray Jays is very high: 52-85% perish before they leave their parents, anytime from June to October. Of those that survive to disperse from their natal territories, another 50% perish before the next breeding season. Adult Gray Jays that establish territories experience low annual mortality (10-18%). The oldest known Gray Jays was a 16 year old female from Ontario, Canada.

Migration/Dispersal: Adult Gray Jays remain year-round on all-purpose territories (40 -70 hectares in size), except some high altitude birds which seasonally migrate to lower elevations in the winter. In the early summer or fall, adults expel their offspring except the dominant juvenile from the year’s brood. The dominant juvenile overwinters in the natal territory but does not assist in raising the next brood. Juveniles ejected from the natal territory will sometimes join unrelated breeding pairs, and have been found up to 11 km away from their natal territories.