I had no idea what I was seeing. I had no idea when the day began that I’d be up a mountain, getting snowed on in October. But it was a good time. Canada jays are Perisoreus jays, which I think are more closely related to Eurasian magpies than to American jays? I dunno. I’m no scholar about this stuff. It’s all google if I feel up to it. But on my honeymoon, we randomly went up to a lookout at Hurricane Ridge, in the Olympic National Rainforest, and saw these birds. Never before or since.
They’re bold. I heard that they are so used to getting food from humans that you can hand feed them, and I regret not trying that while I was up there. They seemed bold enough. I saw one buzz within three feet of another hiker. It took me a while to work out the ID. I certainly hadn’t expected them to be corvids. They seem a bit smaller than other jays, which themselves are smaller than crows. Maybe about robin sized? Mostly grey-white, a little bit of black around the back of the head and more on the wings. Dark grey beak, dark button eyes. Nice.
Based on where we were, this was most likely the “obscurus” subspecies, which sounds cool, whether or not it’s actually at all interesting. It isn’t. Pay it no nevermind. To me, this bird will remain associated with my honeymoon, like ravens, like red-tailed hawk cries, like peacocks in the road. Much more personally interesting, even if that doesn’t transmit to y’all.
I have to imagine that somebody in my readership has much more experience with them. Holler at ya dogg. I’d be interested to know more about them.
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Neither jays nor magpies are natural (monophyletic) groups. The boreal jays (Perisoreus) are the sister group to the azure-winged magpies (Cyanopica). The Eurasian magpie (Pica pica) is part of a genus related to crows and nutcrackers, this genus including North American species.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corvidae
Canada Jays can be hand fed, but not because “they are so used to humans”. I worked in northern Ontario in the wilderness, far from any cities or towns, and when eating lunch Canada Jays would sometime come around. They are curious, bold and fearless, and with a little patience they will eat off your hand. But these birds were definitely wild, with little if any contact with humans.
I looked them up. They look like grey jays that my wife and I hand fed at Mt. Ranier. All we had to do was open our hands with food in them and they landed right in our hands.
AKA whisky jack
They appear when we hike in the mountains. Occasionally encourage them in the lowlands around the Olympic Mountains. Always offer food, almost always taken directly. Friend described them as “moving around like they’re full of helium.”
good stuff ye all. ah, how could i forget to mention their cool native-derived name. so hardcore.