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Gray Jay

Perisoreus canadensisOrder: PASSERIFORMESFamily: Crows and Jays (Corvidae)
Gray Jay Head Illustration

Head

  • Bill Shape: All-purpose
  • Eye Color: Medium gray to grey-black.
  • Head Pattern: Plain, Special (unique patterns or features)
  • Crown Color: White to gray.
  • Forehead Color: White to gray
  • Nape Color: Gray
  • Throat Color: White
  • Cere color: No Data
Gray Jay Body Illustration

Body

  • Length Range: 29 cm (11.5 in)
  • Weight: 74 g (2.6 oz)
  • Size: Size 3. Medium (9 - 16 in)
  • Color: White, Black, Gray
  • Underparts: Pale Gray
  • Upperparts: Dark Gray
  • Back Pattern: Solid
  • Belly Pattern: Solid
  • Breast Pattern: Solid
Gray Jay Flight Illustration

Flight

  • Flight Pattern: Light buoyant flight on steady wing beats.
  • Wingspan Range: 41-43 cm (16-17 in)
  • Wing Shape: Rounded-Wings
  • Tail Shape: Fan-shaped Tail
  • Tail Pattern: Solid
  • Upper Tail: Gray
  • Under Tail: Gray
  • Leg Color: Black
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Family Jays and Magpies (Corvidae)_blue
Species Perisoreus canadensis
Length11.5 Inches
Wingspan16.5 Inches

Gray Jay

Gray Jay: Medium-sized, fluffy, crestless jay with gray upperparts, paler underparts, and a short bill. Tail is long and white-tipped. Feeds on insects, carrion, refuse, seed, nuts, berries, mice, eggs and young of other birds. Light and bouyant flight on steady wing beats. Glides between perches.

● Song: "whee-ah", "chuck-chuck"

● Foraging & Feeding: Gray Jay: Eats arthropods, berries, carrion, bird eggs and young, and fungi. Forages in trees, shrubs, and on the ground; chases insects in the air.

● Breeding & nesting: Gray Jay: Two to five white to olive eggs, spotted with olive and brown, are laid in a solid bowl of twigs and bark strips, lined with feathers and fur, and built near the trunk of a dense conifer. Incubation ranges from 16 to 18 days and is carried out by the female.

● Similar species: Gray Jay: Clark's Nutcracker is chunkier and has medium gray upperparts and underparts and a short white tail with black central feathers.

Flight Pattern

Light buoyant flight on steady wing beats.
Gray Jay Body Illustration
● Range & Habitat: Gray Jay: Resident from Alaska east to Labrador and south across the northern U.S. Most commonly found in coniferous forests.
BreedingMonogamous, Small colonies
PopulationCommon to fairly common
MigrationNonmigratory
Weight2.6 Ounces