Gray Jay
In 2018, the Gray Jay to was changed the Canada Jay.
A gray jay is 2.5 ounces.
Their adult wingspan averages 45 centimeters. From head to the tip of their tail they can be up to 29 cm long.
They have to eat 47 calories to survive.
Young jays leave the nest at 23 days of age.
Overview
Gray Jays are medium-sized, gray songbirds with lighter gray bellies. They have a long tail and a short, black bill. The tips of the dark-gray tail feathers are white. The head is grayish-white with a gray crown and white forehead. The eyes are dark. The short legs and feet are gray.
Distribution & Habitat
Found in evergreen (especially spruce) and mixed evergreen-deciduous forest across the boreal forest of the northern U.S. and Canada, as well as in high mountain ranges of the western U.S.
It is found in boreal forests of North America north to the tree line, and in the Rocky Mountains subalpine zone south to New Mexico and Arizona.
Diet
Gray jays feed on meat, fruit, insects and vegetables (they are omnivorous). The Canada Jay is amazing at storing large quantities of food for later use. As a survival technique, it uses sticky saliva to glue small pieces of food items to tree branches and holes in trees. All this food is stored above the height in which snow falls. Why? because the jay uses this food as winter storage when food is hard to get. This technique allows them to survive in the far north during the long, cold winter months.
