Gray Jays are amazing birds – smart, friendly, and curious. I
have had the privilege of working on a long-term study of them over the past
month and the coming few weeks. The study has been possible because of Dan
Strickland who has been color banding the birds and finding their nests for 40
years here in Algoqnuin Provincial Park. There are about 25 territories that are monitored each
year along the only road through the park, though this number used to be much
higher.
These birds are especially amazing because they nest during
this time of year, while the weather here is still consistently below freezing,
and large snowfalls are not uncommon. Anytime from late February through early
April, Gray Jay pairs will begin building their nest against the trunks of
balsam fir or spruce trees. Their relatively large nests are lined well with cotton
(provided by us researchers when trying to find their nests), feathers, lichen,
grass, and other soft materials to insulate them well. They are well protected
from snow and rain by the above branches. Sometime in March or April, the
females gain half again their normal weight and lay a clutch of 3-5 eggs. After
all the eggs are laid (one per day), she will start incubating. She will sit on
the nest for twenty days, with occasional very short breaks for food. She will
remain on the nest through snowstorms and very cold nights. When clutches
finally hatch, it will still be months before most birds begin nesting, and
even before many migratory birds have returned to the northern forests.
The secret to these birds success lays in their food storage
abilities. Gray Jays compulsively cache food, and remember the locations of
their caches, so they have food available year round. It is believed they nest
during the late winter/ early spring to enable them the most time to cache food
for the coming winter. By finishing nesting in April or May, they are able to
spend the entire summer and fall collecting and storing food.
This technique, however, seems to rely on the presence of
conifers, especially that of black spruce. In his years of observation, Dan
Strickland has witnessed a trend of increasingly hardwood-dominated forests in
the park, and a correlated decline in Gray Jay territories where conifers have declined
the most. This type of forest change has been observed and predicted as a
result of our changing climate. Another pattern has been that of warmer, and
more fluctuating, fall and winter temperatures. This change is hypothesized to cause
more of the Gray Jay’s food to rot, meaning they have less to support nesting. That
such a hearty species as the Gray Jay has been so significantly affected in the
past 30 years is very alarming. Many species likely have similar direct ties to
the composition of the forests in which they live and the temperature patterns,
and global changes to our climate that alter these affect them directly.
Gray Jays are not about to go extinct because of these
changes, but these birds will start disappearing from the southern limits of
their range. Known by many names – Canadian Jay, Whiskey Jack, Camp Robber –
these birds are well known in the northern woods. It’s important to recognize
their potentially fragile place in our ecosystem, no matter how steadfast their
presence may seem.
