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