IS THIS CANADA’S BIRD?
Choice may ruffle some feathers
The gray jay “epitomizes” Canadians — smart, friendly and, above all, tough, according to the aptly named David Bird, who led the charge to have it picked as Canada’s national bird.
It nests in deepest winter, even staying atop its eggs in blizzards at -30C, when other birds have yet to swan in from sunny climes.
It’s found in every province and territory, but almost exclusively in Canada.
Also known as the whiskey jack — from an Algonquin word meaning mischievous prankster — until 50 years ago, it was even known officially as the Canada jay.
Now it’s Canadian Geographic’s pick for our national bird, announced Wednesday night at a Royal Canadian Geographical Society event in Ottawa.
The magazine plucked the gray jay from a short list picked by 50,000 online voters in which the iconic common loon, Ontario’s provincial bird, took that popularity contest.
The snowy owl, Quebec’s avian mascot, was runner-up.
Consultations also included a live debate in September featuring experts advocating for the five, which also included the black-capped chickadee and Canada goose.
In the gray jay, “you’ve got a bird that’s intelligent, friendly and hardy — and that to me epitomizes Canadians,” said Bird, emeritus professor of wildlife biology at McGill University.
Also like Canadians, they have this “amazing ability to sunbathe even in really, really cold temperatures by facing the sun” and they have adaptations including feathers that cover their toes when they crouch and cover their nose holes.
It might not be easy to spot in every backyard, but this is a chance to tell Canadians about a bird that has long figured in the tales of aboriginal people and explorers and draw them into Canada’s magnificent national and provincial parks.
“Otherwise we might as well have chosen the rock pigeon,” Bird said. “Why not create an icon that’s fresh and new for Canadians?” But is it a loony choice? “What’s the value of a symbol that nobody knows?” asked local naturalist and ecological consultant Daniel Brunton, an avowed gray jay lover.
“Walk down Sparks Street and stop 50 people ... 49 of them won’t have seen them,” he said. “It’s a magnificent creature. The imagery and the metaphor for Canada is ideal ... but it’s really obscure.”
Brunton has snowshoed into Algonquin Park to find their nests, but argues most Canadians likely never will.
“It seems to me that a national symbol should be something that most of the people in the nation have some familiarity with, like, duh, the loon,” Brunton said. “The loon is a symbol of the North. It has a spectacular voice. It is one of the great sounds of wilderness.”
The stance of Dan Strickland, a world authority on gray jays after nearly 50 years of study, is clear. Even his licence plate reads GRAY JAY.
Gray jays might be “fluffy and friendly” and known for landing on a hand for a snack, but how they survive the long winter and raise a clutch of eggs into fledglings while many of their feathered friends are still in South America is pretty amazing.
He concedes most people won’t have seen a gray jay but hopes that could change, pointing to nearby destinations like Algonquin Park, where he served as chief naturalist, or just across the Ottawa River.
“They’re out there.”