Michigan is home to two Jay bird species-Blue Jays and Canada (Gray) Jays. Blue Jays are certainly more common in the Mitten State, but both are amazing avians. Here are some fun facts about these two fabulous, fine-feathered friends:
Name Game: These species are from different genera with the scientific name of the blue jay of Cyanocitta cristata (Latin meaning “blue chatterer with a crest”) while the Canada Jay’s taxonomic name is Perisoreus canadensis and derives from Ancient Greek ‘perisorteuo’ meaning, “to heap up” or ‘bury beneath’ referring to the birds habit of storing food in trees to survive the harsh boreal forest winters where they dwell.
The Canada Jay was first described by French zoologist Mathurin Brisson in 1760. The blue jay was first acknowledged scientifically by English naturalist Mark Catesby in 1731 in his publication, Natural History of Carolina, Florida, and the Bahamas.
Distribution Data: In the Great Lakes State, blue jays are widespread and are found in a variety of habitats in all counties. Canada jays, on the other hand, are year-round residents only in the northernmost boreal forests in the Upper Peninsula. When sighted, Canada jays are present in dense coniferous forests, particularly those with spruce and fir. If in the area, Canada jays are human-friendly, curious birds and will often approach people in campgrounds looking for food.
Oh, Canada! Canadians are largely known as some of the friendliest folks on Mother Earth, but when it comes down to naming their national bird, they’ve taken a rather topsy-turvy trail to get there. Indeed, their native jay has gone from being called ‘Canada Jay’ for decades, but in 1957, the name was officially changed to Gray Jay. However, in a move by the American Ornithological Society, it was renamed back to Canada Jay in 2018. To confuse things even further, they chose to name their major league baseball team the Blue Jays, ignoring their beloved national bird altogether!
Crow Clan: Both birds belong to the Corvidae family, which also includes crows, ravens, and magpies.
Boisterous Birds: A group of blue jays is called a ‘party’ or, because of their noisy natures, a ‘ruckus.’ Canada jay groups are usually dubbed a ‘band.’ Canada jays are also referred to as ‘camp robbers’ due to their bold behavior in stealing food from campsites and ‘whisky jacks,’ which is an old English adaptation of the Cree name, ‘Wisakedjak.’
Civil War Colors: Blue Jays have striking blue, white, and black plumage with a prominent crest. Canada Jays don a fluffy plumage with a muted contrasting color pattern of dark gray, light gray and white, with black on the back of the head forming a partial hood. They lack a crest like their blue buddies.
Stable Situations: Both blue and Canada jay populations are stable and are a “least concern” species on the IUCN Status List. Both populations are stable, with Canada jays preferring northern forests and mountains in largely uninhabited areas, while the blue jay is dispersed widely, found further south and thrives in areas filled with humanoids.
Spoiled Stuff: A recent study, however, found that numbers of Canada jays in their southernmost range are declining in terms of the number of successful nests. It’s hypothesized that climate warming in these areas causes the perishable food they store to spoil. These food caches are extremely important to feed the birds during nesting season in late winter.
Sticky Suppers: Indeed, Canada jays have a very unusual yet ingenious habit of using their sticky saliva to glue small food items to tree branches. They are sure to store food above the eventual snow line, and this behavior surely allows them to survive the brutal northern winters.
Really, the Runner Up: When Canadians were asked in November 2016 to vote for an official Canadian National Bird, the winner in the popular vote was the ever-popular common loon. The runner-up was the Canada jay, which was ultimately bestowed the honor because the common loon was already the provincial bird of Ontario. Both birds garnered considerable love, but the Canada jay lucked out because of this controversial decision.
Sweet and Sour: Not to be too anthropomorphic, but when I look at these two birds’ facial features, the Canada jay always looks sweet and friendly, while the blue jay presents as a far more cantankerous character. They also have significant differences in their volume levels, as the Canada jay is a much quieter, more pleasant conversationalist.
Moose Mates: In a true symbiotic relationship, Canada jays are sometimes sighted landing on the backs of moose to eat ticks off the massive mammals. In return,
the jays get protection and a free lunch!
True Blue? Believe it or not, blue jays are not blue and have no blue pigment! When the wing of a cardinal, for example, is crushed into powder, it will be red. If the same is done to a blue jay feather, the powder will be brown. Our eyes are tricked by a phenomenon called ‘light scattering’. Because when visible light strikes their plumage, all the colors pass through the feather except blue. The blue is reflected, so our eyes see blue!
Guys and Gals: Both jay species sport a rather rare characteristic called sexual monomorphism, meaning both males and females look alike. Most bird species feature distinct differences between males and females known as sexual dimorphism. In both jay species, size is a clue, however, because males are usually larger.
Winter Warriors: Another rare behavior of Canada jays is they build their nests and lay eggs in February or March when the temperatures can be well below freezing, and when the snow is still quite deep. The male chooses a good spot in an evergreen and uses twigs, bark, and lichens to fashion the nest. Ingeniously, they assure the nest’s warmth by filling in gaps with the cocoons of forest tent caterpillars! Canada jays also build the nest on the southwest side of a tree to catch the sun’s warmth and line the nest with a soft bed of feathers. Females are the sole incubator and lay 2 to 5 greenish-grey eggs that hatch after a relatively quick incubation period of 18 days. The female rarely leaves the nest during this time as the male continually feeds her until several days after hatching. Once the female Canada jay chooses her mate, they typically become monogamous mates for life. Blue jays are also committed to their mate for their lifetime.
Tricky Mimics: While we may think blue jays are obnoxious toward other birds, which they often are, they have a habit that is beneficial to their bird brethren. They imitate the sounds of skilled bird predators, namely Cooper’s and Red-shouldered Hawks, which sends out a warning signal to other birds of the hawk’s presence. But blue jays have also been known to utter these predator calls even when the hawks aren’t present and therefore get first dibs at the bird feeder! Flipping the script on their close cousins, Canada jays can mimic the calls of blue jays, resulting in a similar result.
Brown Eggs for Breakfast: Many birds unknowingly raise the young of brown-headed cowbirds, who are devious nest predators that lay their eggs in other birds’ nests. However, blue jays are so intelligent that they are not fooled by cowbirds. Instead of incubating the eggs, they treat the new eggs like a ‘DoorDash’ delivery!
Aged Avians: While most bird species live about 5-7 years, blue jays have been known to be over 20 years old. As a matter of fact, one banded bird in Canada lived to be almost 27 years old! Most jays die from predators – raccoons, cats, hawks, snakes – or from collisions with human-made structures. Additionally, blue jays seem to be particularly susceptible to the West Nile Virus, which has caused significant population declines in some ecosystems.
Those are some bodacious bits about these beautiful, yet boisterous birds. With any luck, you will encounter them in the wondrous woods or along the whispering waters of the Wolverine State!
