Winter in Algonquin: Spruce Bog Boardwalk (part 1)
January 27th, 2017
Next that morning was Spruce Bog Boardwalk, one of the most popular spots in Algonquin in winter. I quickly learned why. We were met at the parking lot by a friendly group of Gray Jays. You may have heard the name "Gray Jay" recently: it's been proposed as the new national bird of Canada. There has been some consternation from folks who would rather it be the Common Loon, or who just have no idea what a Gray Jay is and what's special about it. So let me introduce you.
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A big, fluffy, soft gray teddy bear of a bird. It's nearly as big as a Blue Jay, but as cute as a titmouse. A confiding and curious bird that readily comes to a human hand to take peanuts and fruit. An intelligent bird that caches food in thousands of different hiding places and remembers each one. A tough-as-nails bird that lives in northern Canada year-round (Algonquin Park is at the extreme southern limit of its range) and incubates eggs in the middle of a boreal winter. Friendly, smart, and unfazed by extreme cold: what better bird to represent Canada?
I fell in love with them. Instantly. As with Evening Grosbeaks, I had seen them before, but not like this.
A Gray Jay pair is strictly monogamous and lives in the same territory (roughly 150 hectares each in Algonquin) year-round. As the pair's young mature, they will increasingly fight with each other until one is established as dominant, and drives its fledged siblings away. That individual gets the privilege of living in its parents' territory for the rest of the year, and maybe even the year after that. The others must hunt for a vacancy elsewhere and have a somewhat lower chance of survival.
It is a rather odd and unique family arrangement among birds. In most species that allow young to remain after fledging, the young pay their room and board, as it were, by helping feed the next generation of nestlings. But Gray Jay parents actually refuse to allow their teenagers to approach the nest! Not until the chicks are out of the nest are the older siblings allowed to help feed them.
The Gray Jays resident along the Highway 60 corridor are all banded as part of a long-term study. Their bands uniquely identify them. The individual pictured above, if I've determined correctly, is Mr. ROSLGOPR (red on standard left, green on purple right). He's the dominant juvenile in the Sunday Creek territory, staying with his parents for the second year. He is also fitted with a radio transmitter. That thing that looks like a stray twig in front of his tail is the antenna.
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That's the breeding female in the Boardwalk territory, six years old.
And that's her six-plus-year-old mate. By the way, the oldest known Gray Jay in Algonquin Park is sixteen!
(More to come)
January 27th, 2017
Next that morning was Spruce Bog Boardwalk, one of the most popular spots in Algonquin in winter. I quickly learned why. We were met at the parking lot by a friendly group of Gray Jays. You may have heard the name "Gray Jay" recently: it's been proposed as the new national bird of Canada. There has been some consternation from folks who would rather it be the Common Loon, or who just have no idea what a Gray Jay is and what's special about it. So let me introduce you.
1680x1050 wallpaper
A big, fluffy, soft gray teddy bear of a bird. It's nearly as big as a Blue Jay, but as cute as a titmouse. A confiding and curious bird that readily comes to a human hand to take peanuts and fruit. An intelligent bird that caches food in thousands of different hiding places and remembers each one. A tough-as-nails bird that lives in northern Canada year-round (Algonquin Park is at the extreme southern limit of its range) and incubates eggs in the middle of a boreal winter. Friendly, smart, and unfazed by extreme cold: what better bird to represent Canada?
I fell in love with them. Instantly. As with Evening Grosbeaks, I had seen them before, but not like this.
A Gray Jay pair is strictly monogamous and lives in the same territory (roughly 150 hectares each in Algonquin) year-round. As the pair's young mature, they will increasingly fight with each other until one is established as dominant, and drives its fledged siblings away. That individual gets the privilege of living in its parents' territory for the rest of the year, and maybe even the year after that. The others must hunt for a vacancy elsewhere and have a somewhat lower chance of survival.
It is a rather odd and unique family arrangement among birds. In most species that allow young to remain after fledging, the young pay their room and board, as it were, by helping feed the next generation of nestlings. But Gray Jay parents actually refuse to allow their teenagers to approach the nest! Not until the chicks are out of the nest are the older siblings allowed to help feed them.
The Gray Jays resident along the Highway 60 corridor are all banded as part of a long-term study. Their bands uniquely identify them. The individual pictured above, if I've determined correctly, is Mr. ROSLGOPR (red on standard left, green on purple right). He's the dominant juvenile in the Sunday Creek territory, staying with his parents for the second year. He is also fitted with a radio transmitter. That thing that looks like a stray twig in front of his tail is the antenna.
1680x1050 wallpaper
That's the breeding female in the Boardwalk territory, six years old.
And that's her six-plus-year-old mate. By the way, the oldest known Gray Jay in Algonquin Park is sixteen!
(More to come)
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Mike
January 28th, 2017 at 5:03 pm
They are indeed cute and poofy and smart-looking!