Gray Jay

Gray JayBy: Priscilla Saeger

CLASSIFICATION FamilyCrows, ravens, jays, and magpies, and lots more OrderPasseriformes

Scientific nameCanadensis(robber)

PhylumChordata

ClassAves

Distribution Gray Jays are found

in• North America• Rocky Mountains• New Mexico• Arizona• Norway • And Alaska

Areas • Fir Forests• Anything in high

elevation• Evergreen Forests

Physical Description weight2.5 ounces (70 grams)

Length11.5inches (29cm)

Wingspan18 inches (45cm) or(1.48ft)

male and female are identical

But female just have a paler neck

Parental Care Food• Mate for life

• Female incubates for 16-18 days

• Both adults tend the young

• Babies are able to fly at the age of 15 days

• The year after birth, both gender can breed

• They will eat

• Meat

• Fruit

• Insects

• Plants

• And garbage • Berries

• Fungi

• and almost anything else it comes across

Predators• Owls,

• hawks,

• Weasels

• foxes

• American marten

• Red squirrel

• northern hawk-owls

• Gray Jays warn each other of predators by whistling alarm notes, screaming, chattering, or imitating, and/or mobbing predators

Human Relationship

• Humans used to hunt them

• Sometimes Gray Jays can be very curious

• Gray Jays quickly learn that humans can be an excellent source of food, even coming to the hand for bread, raisins, or cheese

• Its not threatened or dangered

• On IUCNIt is Least Concerned

Cool Facts• The Gray Jay has many

informal names, including "Whiskey-Jack," and "meat-bird.”

• They coat mouthfuls of food with saliva and store them in tree bark and other crevices for later use.

• Breeding Gray Jays build nests and lay eggs in March or even February

A-Home-for-Wild-Birds. A-Home-for-Wild-Birds, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.a-home-for-wild-birds.com/gray-jay.html>.Animal Diversity. Animal Diversity, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/Perisoreus_canadensis/>.Birdzilla. Birdzilla.com, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.birdzilla.com/birds/Gray-Jay/description.html>.The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. All About Birds, n.d. Web. 24 Feb. 2013. <http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gray_Jay/lifehistory>.Gray Jay. natinal dance institution, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2013. <http://www.ndi4all.org/grade45/grayjay-c.html>.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources., n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/106005726/0>.NatureWorks. NatureWorks, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/grayjay.htm#2>.Perisoreus canadensis. University of Michigan: Animal Diversity, Sibley 2000, Strickland 1993, Ehrlich 1988. Print.Russel, Jesse, and Cohn Ronald, eds. Gray Jay. N.p.: Book on Demand, 1/1/2012. Print.WILD Pacific Northwest. Ivan Phillipsen, n.d. Web. 24 Mar. 2013. <http://www.wildpnw.com/2012/02/20/gray-jay/>.

Works Cited