Species: Perisoreus canadensis
Gray Jay
Species
Show on Lists
Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
Classification
Kingdom
Animalia
Phylum
Craniata
Class
Aves
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Corvidae
Genus
Perisoreus
NatureServe
Classification
Other Global Common Names
Canada Jay - Grey Jay - mésangeai du Canada
Informal Taxonomy
Animals, Vertebrates - Birds - Perching Birds
Formal Taxonomy
Animalia - Craniata - Aves - Passeriformes - Corvidae - Perisoreus - Composed of two groups which may represent separate species: CANADENSIS (Canada Jay) and OBSCURUS (Oregon Jay) (AOU 1998). May constitute a superspecies with P. INFAUSTUS and P. INTERNIGRANS, both of the Old World (AOU 1998).
Ecology and Life History
Short General Description
A bird (jay).
Migration
true - false - false
Non-migrant
true
Locally Migrant
false
Food Comments
Omnivorous. Feeds on insects, berries, lichen, mice, carrion, scraps from campsites. Probably eats birds' eggs. Stores hundreds of food items per day during summer; apparently relies heavily on that food in winter; food is cached (scatter-hoarded) in arboreal sites such as under a flake of bark, in a clump of lichen, or in a conifer needle-cluster (Condor 94:995-998).
Reproduction Comments
Clutch size 2-5 (usually 3-4). Incubation 16-18 days, by female. Young tended by both adults, capable of first flight when about 15 days old. In Ontario and Quebec, broods broke up in June, when the young were 55-65 days old; dominant brood member expelled siblings from natal territory, shared in food stored by parents (Strickland 1991).
Ecology Comments
Occupies, permanent, all-purpose territory. Usually seen in small family groups or in pairs. Gray Jays have home ranges of about 65-130 hectares in Ontario (Rutter 1969).
Length
29
Weight
71
Conservation Status
NatureServe Global Status Rank
G5
Global Status Last Reviewed
1996-12-02
Global Status Last Changed
1996-12-02
Other Status
LC - Least concern
Distribution
Conservation Status Map
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Global Range
BREEDING: western and central Alaska across Canada and south to northern California, eastern Oregon, Idaho, Utah, eastern Arizona, northern New Mexico, Colorado, southwestern South Dakota, northern Minnesota, northern Wisconsin, northern Michigan, northern New York, and northern New England. NON-BREEDING: mainly through breeding range (AOU 1983).