It’s February, and that means winter is very much here in the Northern Hemisphere. And, if you’re a Canada jay, winter also marks the busiest time of the year.
For us humans, the idea of being snuggled up somewhere warm during the winter months is tantalizing.
But not for the Canada jay. Late winter, around February to March, is peak nesting season for this hardy bird.
There’s no time to waste.
While other animals are hibernating, this small corvid is busy foraging, constructing nests and rearing chicks.
We will explore exactly what the Canada jay is, why they nest in winter, and what food they eat.
What is the Canada Jay?
The Canada jay is a type of passerine bird, belonging to the corvid family. They belong to the same family as crows and ravens.
This jay can be found in high-elevation boreal forests across North America, from Alaska to Canada. Although mostly found in the sub-alpine habitats of the far North, they can be found as far South as Colorado.
Canada jays are deceptively cute looking, with large beady eyes and cheeks of fluffy white. They are curious and inquisitive, bordering on friendly.
But don’t let this fool you. these jays have quite the reputation.
Often called “camp robbers”, they have been known to stay close to campsites and lodges, stealing any unattended food.
But then again, survival of the fittest, right? They need to be tough and merciless to be able to survive the harsh Northern winters.
What does the Canada Jay look like?
The Canada jay is a relatively small, short-billed jay.
They are mostly covered in gray plumage of varying shades. However, their cheeks and forehead have white feathers with a partial black cap.
They are slightly larger than an American robin, growing to roughly 11 inches in length. This, in part, is due to their long tail.
Juveniles are a darker gray and have a white moustache-like row of feathers at the base of their bill.
Canada jays can be seen flying in small groups, but are considerably less noisy than other species of jays.
Nesting behaviors of Canada Jays
Unlike many passerine birds of the Northern Hemisphere, which chose to nest in Spring or Summer, Canada jays breen throughout the Winter months of February and March.
Across their home range of the boreal and subalpine forests across northern North America, winter temperature can plummet to as low as -20°F (-28°C).
But this doesn’t deter this hardy jay. They’re built for these conditions.
Canada jays have thick and fluffy plumage that covers their legs and nostrils. They also spend the Summer and Fall putting on as much fat in preparation for the colder months ahead.
Then there’s the actual nest construction.
Although both sexes play a role in nest building, it is the male that does most of the work.
Firstly, he picks a site. Prime nesting spots are on trees close to the south-facing edge of a forest, to take advantage of the extra warmth from sunlight.
Next, it’s all about materials used for nest construction.
The Canada jay makes the base layer with a loose ball of spruce needles and tamarack twigs. Conifers are the dominant trees of the boreal forest, so nesting material is plentiful.
The nest is glued together with the sticky cocoons of caterpillars.
More twigs are added to the base layer, until a donut-shaped nest is formed. The interior is filled with smaller twigs, strips of bark, clumps of lichen, feathers and fur. This creates a highly insulated nest where eggs can be incubated and chicks raised successfully, despite the frigid conditions.
Both sexes of these birds are monogamous, staying with one another for the duration of their lives. The longest lived Canada jay recorded reached 17 years!
Why do Canada Jays nest in Winter?
Well, there are a few logical explanations:
1. Food Availability
By nature, Canada jays cache, or store, food. Throughout Summer and Fall, these jays forage and gather food. The food is stored in salvia-wrapped packages across their boreal forest habitat.
They use these food parcels throughout the Winter, ensuring they have plenty of resources available to feed their young.
2. Survival Advantages
Nesting early means chicks fledge early – often throughout March and April. This means young Canada jays can learn and develop their own food storage skills, in preparation for the coming winter.
3. Avoid Predators and Competition
Other boreal forest inhabitants, such as squirrels, also hoard food and may compete for the same resources.
By nesting early, Canada jays eliminate the need to compete for food, as many other animals are still hibernating.
Additionally, migratory predators, such as hawks, arrive later in the year, giving chicks the best chance of survival.
What do Canada Jays eat?
Don’t let the cute facade fool you.
Canada jays have a ferocious appetite, and will eat just about anything they can.
Sure, they’ll scavenge around campsites looking for any food left around from humans. Y’know, the likes of crumbs, fruits, chips etc etc.
But, there’s a more sinister side to the foraging behavior of Canada jays.
They are able to recognize, and take advantage of, any injured or dead animals that have been shot or trapped by hunters.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Canada jays have a range of foraging behaviors, allowing them to hunt a wide range of live prey.
They can catch flying insects on the wing. They wade in shallow water to snag any aquatic invertebrates. Kill small amphibians and mammals. Ruthlessly raid the nests of other birds to kill chicks or consume eggs. They even pursue and hunt smaller birds.
See, brutal.
When animal protein is in shorter supplies, Canada jays supplement their diet with plant matter, such as berries, as well as fungi.
Feeding Behaviors of Canada Jays
So, we’ve seen what Canada jays eat. But how do they eat?
Unlike their cousins, Blue jays, which utilize their hard bill, the Canada jay twists and tugs at pieces of food. This could be the berries off a branch, or meat from the bone – versatility is key.
Due to the unpredictable weather conditions of their range, these northern jays aren’t guaranteed a reliable food source year-round.
Instead, they need to get creative with storage methods.
Canada jays have large glands that produce special, sticky saliva. They coat their food in this saliva, producing a sticky food blob.
They stick these saliva-wrapped parcels behind the bark of tree, under lichen, within conifer needles or other tree crevices. Tree resin helps preserve food by slowing down bacterial and fungal growth.
The jays are able to successfully recover stored food by means of olfaction, trial-and-error search and spatial memory.
Final Thoughts
Whilst many other animals hibernate, the Canada jay braves the frigid North American winters to nest.
By nesting in February or March, this jay reduces the risk of both competition and predation.
The additional months for a fledgling Canada jay allows them to learn vital foraging and caching behaviors. These skills will increase the likelihood they’ll survive throughout their first winter.
The ability to be able to store food is one of the reasons Canada jays are able to live, and nest, in the boreal and subalpine forests across northern North America, where the temperature can fall to way below freezing.
