Often they materialize seemingly out of nowhere, silently dropping from the pines or flitting as shape shifting shadows through dappled sunlit clearings in the forest.  I’ve taken to calling them “gray ghosts,” though they are certainly not to be mistaken for adult male Northern Harriers which many experienced birders refer to by that name.  Always anticipated, but sadly less frequently encountered now probably due to global warming, they are a welcome complement to any picnic lunch in the Rocky Mountains.

Canada Jays, formerly officially known as Gray Jays, and forever referred to as Camp Robbers by birders and non-birders alike, were perhaps the most interesting bird seen during our recent trip to Yellowstone.  You might chalk this up to our failure to find less common and more elusive targets such as Great Gray Owl (we missed one by a day) and Pine Grosbeak (we never even heard any rumors), but we were happy to study the jays whenever they dropped in for a visit as we stopped for lunch.

Canada Jays are unique among North America’s boreal breeding birds, evolutionarily adapted as they are to nesting in late winter and incubating their eggs in temperatures as low as zero degrees.  Success in these harsh conditions are possible because they are scatter-hoarders, secreting perishable food items under bark and lichen secured with the copious and sticky saliva from their enlarged salivary glands.

Canada Jays are also unique within their own avian family.  They are quiet and retiring by nature, so unlike many other jays.  Think Blue Jay or Steller’s Jay, always raucous and conspicuous, or even Clark’s Nutcracker, the only other gray, black, and white bird in their habitat, often mistaken for the latter by non-birders, but typically heard before seen and known for its high, harsh, long distance vocals.  Canada Jay calls, by contrast, are low, soft whistles and chucks, primarily used for contact between mated pairs.

Because of their narrow environmental niche, Canada Jays are arguably the North American avian species most affected by global warming.  Evolved to nest early before spring warm-up, they are now experiencing food shortages because the items in their food caches are spoiling as boreal winters become warmer.

Further complicating the jays environmental issues, cold temperatures are the primary limiting factor for the Mountain Pine Beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae), responsible for major Lodgepole Pine destruction throughout the mountain west.  As temperatures warm up, the pine beetles thrive.  Complete destruction of this preferred Canada Jay habitat may be unavoidable, and already as coniferous forests retreat northward at the southern edge of the jays’ range, that range is retreating northward as well.

The preferred natural foods of Canada Jays are seeds, arthropods, and berries, particularly blueberries, but they quickly recognize and then seek “other” things like bread crusts, cheese bits, and apple slices.  Indeed, nothing seemed to bring out more joy in Yellowstone’s picnic areas than “camp robbers” landing on occupied tables at lunchtime.  This induced more cell phone action that any bear sighting or Bison jam.

Typically if we stopped early for lunch around 11am, no Canada Jays were present, but as more people filled up the tables a pair of jays would drop in, apparently from roosts high in the tallest pines, make a circular foray around the area looking for hand-outs or leavings, then disappear.  Almost like clockwork the pair would return some time later and make the same rounds in the same pattern.  Twenty minutes seemed to be their usual interval.

Here’s the bottom line.  If you need Canada Jay for your state list, you should look for them soon.  It’s possible that within our lifetime, these tame and confiding camp robbers will no long grace us with their fascinating and fun presence here in the southern Rocky Mountains.  Our loss, our fault.