Also known as: Canada jay, grey jay, camp robber, or whisky jack
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. It is one of three members of the genus Perisoreus a genus more closely related to the magpie genus Cyanopica than to other birds known as jays.
Gray jays live year-round on permanent territories in coniferous forests, surviving in winter months on food cached throughout their territory in warmer periods. The birds form monogamous mating pairs, with pairs accompanied on their territories by a third juvenile from the previous season. Canada jays adapt to human activity in their territories and are known to approach humans for food, inspiring a list of colloquial names including "lumberjack", "camp robber", and "venison-hawk".
Found throughout Canada, the bird is popularly known by its once-official name, "Canada jay". Another well-known colloquial name is "whisky jack". This is a variation on the name of Wisakedjak, a benevolent trickster and cultural hero in Cree, Algonquin, and Menominee mythologies. Alternate spellings for this name include wesakechak, wiskedjak, whiskachon, and wisakadjak. The Tlingit people of northwestern North America know it as kooyéix or taatl'eeshdéi, "camp robber". According to the Mi'kmaq of Nova Scotia, each of the seven stars of the Big Dipper depicted a different bird; the star Eta Ursae Majoris in the night sky was a Canada jay, Mikjaqoqwej. In anishinaabemowin, or the Ojibwe language, the bird is known as gwiingwiishi."... the whisky jack is revered by indigenous peoples as an omen of good fortune and a warning of danger. Niigaanwewidam Sinclair, an associate professor and acting head of the department of native studies at the University of Manitoba, explained why the mischievous yet wise grey jay is important to the Anishinaabe people. “To my people, the Anishinaabe, she is Gwiingwiishi,” Sinclair said in a post published by Canadian Geographic magazine. “Gwiingwiishi is a great, wise teacher, and there is an old story that tells of her abilities to give gifts... Her lesson? That it is only in our bravery, resilience and commitments to one another that we can find growth,” Sinclair said.
Spicebush Swallowtail