Post Category : Field Life

The Whiskey Jack!

By Madeline Coleman on July 18, 2018

In 2015 a two year poll was issued by Canadian Geographic for a new National Bird.  In the end, our little Grey Jay took the lead, beating out the common loon, black-capped chickadee, snowy owl, and Canadian Goose. Although not officially recognized as the new National bird yet, it was selected as an avian representation of Canadians: its found in every province and territory, it’s friendly, and it’s very intelligent!

From the Canadian Geographic: https://www.canadiangeographic.ca/article/meet-our-national-bird-gray-jay

For the Cree, the Whiskey Jack, or Wisakedjak, is a shape-shifter, benevolent trickster, teacher, and messenger of the forest. There are many different stories about the Wisakedjak, but most of them have a moral. The appearance of the Wisakedjak in the morning is seen as a good omen, and is believed it warns people of nearby predators.

This boreal forest inhabitant is often spotted by Tree Time’s archaeology crews, and it has quickly become my favourite little bird. They are almost always seen traveling in a group of three: a monogamous pair and a juvenile from the previous year’s breeding season. The friendliest groups have always been found near areas people have made their hunting camps. In fact, the Whiskey Jack has figured out that people mean food. Given a few minutes, some of them may even eat out of your hand!

The Whiskey Jack checking us out! Notice how close it is to our gear.
This camp must have been a popular food gathering place for these Grey Jays. They were very friendly!

Whiskey Jacks stick around all winter too, even incubating their eggs as temperatures dip to -30°C. They store their food in crevices, under lichen, and even under conifer needles. They coat the food in a saliva, called bolus, which makes it sticky, ensuring the food doesn’t move until the Whiskey Jack returns. Unlike forgetful squirrels, these birds will remember exactly where they left their caches! Their food is a variety of arthropods (like spiders), small mammals, ticks, carrion, fungi, fruits, and seeds. The average life span is about 8 years, although the oldest recorded Whiskey Jack was 17 years old!

These three checking to see if we were going to drop any of our lunch.

What bird would you have voted for?

Related Posts

 

By Braedy Chapman

July 2, 2023

Top sites of 2022, BC edition

Field operations in British columbia 2022 marked Ember Archaeology’s first year of significant field operations in British Columbia. Our BC crews conducted a number of sizable wildfire-related projects for the BC Ministry of Forests over the course of the season, ultimately surveying hundreds of kilometers of constructed fireguards and fuel reduction developments. These were nearly

Keep Reading

By Megan Williams

March 8, 2023

Elsie Jury

International Women’s Day In celebration of another International Women’s Day, Ember Archaeology would like to share the life and accomplishments of another impressive archaeologist, Elsie McLeod Murray Jury. Known for being a trowel blazer in the understanding of historical archaeology in Ontario, Elsie Jury worked at many archaeological sites across the province and helped to

Keep Reading

By Alyssa Hamza

March 8, 2022

Mary Vaux Walcott

To celebrate International Women’s Day (March 8th, 2022), I want to share the accomplishments of Mary Vaux Walcott (1860 – 1940). Early Life Mary Vaux was born into a prominent Quaker family in Philadelphia on July 31, 1860. She was the eldest of the Vaux’s three children. The Quakers valued the devotion to God, modesty

Keep Reading