Canada Jay - BirdForum Opus

A bird of the obscurus group
Photo by digitalbirder
Manning Park forest, British Columbia, Canada, 11 May, 2005

Alternative name: Gray Jay

Perisoreus canadensis

Identification

27 - 31cm. A small, variable jay of the forest of North America. Generally small-billed and with a fluffy appearance.

• Nominate subspecies:
  • White to light greyish-white forehead, forecrown, face, neck and upper breast
  • Black to dark brown central crown to nape
  • Slate-grey upperparts
  • Light grey underparts
• capitalis:
  • paler, with a much paler head than nominate

A bird of the canadensis group
Photo by mjmw
Ocquossoc, Maine, USA, February 2008

• obscurus:
  • dark on head extends to forecrown
  • contrastingly dark above and pale below

The other subspecies are intermediate between the three mentioned. Sexes similar, males larger than females. Juveniles are much darker than adults.

Similar species

Looks superficially similar to Clark's Nutcracker.

Distribution

North America:
Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, Northwest Territories, Ontario, Prince Edward Island
United States: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

Taxonomy

Juvenile
Photo by Glen Tepke
Mount Jefferson, White Mountain National Forest, New Hampshire, USA, 6 June, 2004

Subspecies

There are 8 subspecies^[1]:
Canadensis Group - Gray Jay (Northern)

• P. c. pacificus:

• central Alaska through southwestern Alaska, USA, to central-coastal British Columbia, Canada

• P. c. canadensis:

• northeastern Alaska, USA, and northern Canada (Yukon and Northwest Territories south to southern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta, east across Canada to Quebec, and south into northern portions of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan, northern New York, and northern New England (all USA)

Photo by River Girl
Oquossoc, Maine, USA, 25 May, 2015

• P. c. albescens:

• western Canada east of the Rocky Mountains from northeastern British Columbia and northwestern Alberta south to north central United States (Black Hills, western South Dakota)

• P. c. nigricapillus:

• Eastern Canada (northern Quebec to Newfoundland and Nova Scotia)

Gray Jay (Rocky Mountains)

• P. c. bicolor:

• Rocky Mountains from southeastern British Columbia and southwestern Alberta (Canada) south to eastern Washington, central Idaho, and western Montana (USA)

• P. c. capitalis:

• Rocky Mountains of western United States (central Idaho and southern Montana to northern New Mexico, also disjunctly in east central Arizona)

obscurus Group - Gray Jay (Pacific)

• P. c. griseus:

• South-western British Columbia and Vancouver Island to north-eastern California

• P. c. obscurus:

• Coastal north-western US (Washington to north-western California)

Habitat

Coniferous and mixed forest of the taiga and high mountain elevations. Recorded at 2440 - 3050m in the Rocky Mountains.

Behaviour

They travel in small flocks and are very tame and often approach people.

Diet

Feeds on beetles, bugs, other insects, spiders, berries, fungi and sometimes on small birds, frogs, snakes, mice or other vertebrates. Takes also carrion. Produces a sticky saliva with which it glues together berries and other food items into balls for easier winter storage, like its relative the Siberian Jay.

Breeding

Breeding season starts already in late winter (February) and goes to April. Two birds stay permanently together. The nest is a bulky platform made of twigs and well insulated. It's placed 1.7 to 15m above the ground, close to the trunk of a spruce or fir tree. Lays 3 - 4 eggs.

Movements

A resident species. Most pairs stay in their territory for their whole life.

References

1. Clements, J. F., P. C. Rasmussen, T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, A. Spencer, S. M. Billerman, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2023. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2023. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
2. Avibase
3. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Canada Jay. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 24 December 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Canada_Jay

External Links

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