Gray Jay at the Feeders
When we first put out the bird feeders outside of the Chik-Wauk Museum, it was the middle of summer. With the exception of some hummingbirds, most other birds have been too content with natural bounty of seeds and insects outside to bother with our feeders. But this morning we had our first winged visitor: not too surprisingly, it was a gray jay (perisoreous canadensis) who you might also know as a Canada Jay or Whiskey Jack.
Compared with delicate chickadees and songbirds, this fairly large bird is the equivalent of the “rude dinner guest” amongst the birds you’ll commonly find at your feeder in northern Minnesota. If the gray jay has one virtue, it’s that they’re not particularly picky. They’ll eat just about anything.: from bird seed to bread crumbs to French fries. More than anything, they’d like to have a bit of whatever you happen to be eating. These cheeky birds are know to grab sandwiches right out of camper’s hands, earning themselves the nickname of Camp Robber.
The grey jay might not be the most striking of birds in the boreal forest, nor does it have a terribly distinct of song. Still, there are several interesting facts about this bird that make it worth noting the next time one raids your campsite. For one thing, the birds give birth extremely early in the season: they’re known to lay eggs in February and March, a time of year that usually still constitutes as deep winter in the North Woods!
One thing that enables gray jays to give birth so early is the fact that they cache food through out their home territory. A large amount of the food they pilfer is eaten, formed into a little food “nugget” which is then regurgitated in a storage place to ensure they have plenty of food to last all winter long.