gray jays in the Whites: seasonal?

[Puck]

Regardless of whether or not Craig and Doug Paul agree on every little detail, I just find the little fellas irresistable.

They are irresistable to a fault. I was upstaged by them once.... I proposed to my wife on Carrigain. We had stopped at the little peak before the tower. I gave here the ring at the right moment blah blah blahI thought I had made the event memorable. So when we got to the base of the tower two gray jays came gliding over the trees. I told her to put some trail mix in her hand and hold it out. She was amazed, thrilled. The Jays became the highlight of her day and she forgot about everything else.

 

[sierra]

I get a kick out of the analization of certain topics on these boards. I swear some people like to argue for the sake of arguement, some like to spout science and laws and LNT or whatever just to be on the board as an authority of some kind. Feeding Grey jays is fun, they are enjoyable to a fault, they are also tough, smart and have been at this art of stealing or begging for many years. They will thrive as they have for years and for that IM glad. Lets not be so analitical, life is short, cant we enjoy the little things without being chastised, besides if the jays heard you they would tell you to go #@$%^$#^% IM sure.

 

[Hillwalker]

Jays

Out West we called them Whisky Jacks. I have no idea why, but they are fun little critters. I got yelled at while feeding them at Mizpah Hut last year. The yeller was a "naturalist from AMC". I told her she was full of harakka. (see Watership Down by Richard Adams for a translation).

 

[WSC]

I hate to sound like a party pooper, but you really should abstain from feeding the Gray Jays. The First time I met them I fed them, and thought it was really cool, so I understand the fascination people have with feeding them.
A Conservationist I met on the trail, said if we feed them, they become habitulated and get reliant on Humans to feed them, which is fine during the summer when there are many Humans around, but during Winter, they don't know where to get food, and perish. The Conservationist said It only takes one season for this to happen.
The Last time I met a Gray Jay on the trail, I did not feed it even though it gave me those cute and sad looks. Remember it is for the good of the bird, and also our mountains.
Thanks
WSC

 

[sierra]

death of the Jays?

wsc,
Look man I know you mean well, but that conservationist or whatever they where, does not have a clue what thier talking about. If that was the case there would be no grey jays left in the Whites mountains after all the years of them getting people food from the loggers to present and past hikers, they would have been wiped out long ago. This conservationist was taking the hardline on feeding wildlife and while I would agree feeding wildlife is not a good idea, I will also say there are exceptions, grey jays happen to be one. These are hardy birds and the hand feeding they get does nothing but give them a free snack now and then, the next time you feed one or see one look at them closely, Ive held them close up, thier heavy, have great coats of feathers and the ones Ive seen look healthy as can be. Take the outlook on the Caps ridge, those birds have been hanging there for years, if that conservationist theroy was correct there would be no birds there now. OK Ive beat the dead horse, its just that this is one of those topics we see come up again and again.

 

[Karl Hungus]

I'm new here and I haven't had a chance to beat this dead horse...so here goes.

I don't think they should be fed ever. They are wild animals and can find food on their own. If they find people food I don't care but I don't think people should feed them. I don't know anything about gut bacteria or conservation theories.

What I do know is that aggressive jay behavior is very annoying. I was on Zealand in late summer with a friend of mine. We were grabbing a quick snack before we contined our hike when we were surrounded by 3 jays. They formed a triangle around us and seemed to be executing some sort of planned mission. Their attack plan was funny to us and yes they are cute but we did not feed them. After some time I think they got angry that we weren't feeding them and one bird decided to 'dive bomb' my face while I was eating. He proceeded with multiple air strikes as I would put my hand and food to my face. On one dive bomb he actually brushed my cheeck with the tip of his wing! Now that I think of it sounds a little funny but at the time is was not. It was very annoying. You know how you brush of a few little bugs flying near your head? Imagine a bird swooping down at your head...not cool.

Now I would not and did not hit the bird as he swooped at me but some people may. They are so fearless of people and that may hurt them in the long run. Someone may actually smack one of these things out of the air! Please don't feed these little guys.

 

[expat]

Old Woodsman's Ghost

I had also heard that Grey Jays were called Old Woodsman's Ghosts, because they were so friendly that there was a legend that when an old woodsman died, he came back as a Grey Jay to befriend his former fellow woodsmen.

I was looking for a reference to this, and I'm sure that I've read it before, but can't recall where.

Grey Jays are also known as Whiskey Jacks, which seems to come from the Micmac indian name for them, Weskejak. See http://www.shades-of-night.com/aviary/totem.html

Regarding feeding, I found this link to be interesting:
http://lists.willamette.edu/pipermail/naturalist/2005-May/000371.html

 

[Tim Seaver]

Jay Gazes at Prezzies

This little guy was on the summit of South Twin last February 2nd.

 

[Puck]

Tim That is a great picture. I love the laughing twinkle in his eye. He must be reminiscing about all the hikers he mobbed the past summer on Mt Zealand.

Kevin I am glad you raised these points I was reading last night that if the feeding of birds stopped abruptly there would be no extinctions and no crash of populations over all. The ranges would just recede.

I know of a way to answer your question regarding the population of gray jays....the CBC

Otherwise...same time next year.

 

[Jim lombard]

Wow, beautiful picture Tim!

I'll admit I've fed them in the past, it's thrilling to have a wild bird land in your hand and have just a moment of communion with them. When I was in Ngorogoro crater a big Kite grabbed a chicken leg I was trying to eat for lunch, nearly took my thumb with those sharp talons. I haven't fed any birds since!

 

[jade]

What's all this fuss about gay jays?! They have just as much right to be here as all the other birds!!!....oh, GRAY jays.....Never mind......
....Jade

 

[arghman]

righto, I think I got my question answered.

 

[Tim Seaver]

Gray Jays are omnivorous, commonly eating arthropods, berries, carrion, eggs, nestling birds, and fungi. Gray Jays use a variety of foraging techniques including flycatching, foliage gleaning, ground gleaning, and even aerial pursuit of rodents. Nestlings are fed partially digested food.

One of the most interesting traits of the Gray Jay is its food storage ability. This Jay has unusually large salivary glands that produce copious sticky saliva. They use this saliva to impregnate and encase food, creating a bolus that will adhere to trees. Away from ground scavengers and protected from the wind and snow, these caches allow efficient food hoarding. Gray Jays have been observed making over 1,000 caches in a single 17-hour day. This behavior may be the major adaptation enabling Perisoreus canadensis to occupy the hostile boreal regions during the winter. Fittingly, the genus Perisoreus means "hoarder."

To me, this suggests their hoarding behavior causes them to grab whatever is available, when it's available, and has little to do with any supposed dependency on humans as a significant part of their diet. Out of the hundreds of food stashes the Gray Jays may make each day, how many do you think are from human hands? Perisoreus canadensis