Family: Corvidae, Crows, Magpies, Jays view all from this family

Description 10-13" (25-33 cm). Gray above, whitish below. Forehead and throat white; nape and stripe through eye dull black. Immatures sooty-gray.

Habitat Coniferous forests.

Nesting 3-5 gray-green eggs, spotted with dark olive-brown, in a solid bowl of twigs and bark strips lined with feathers and fur and placed near the trunk of a dense conifer.

Range Resident from Alaska east across Canada to Labrador and south to northern California, New Mexico, northern New York, and northern New England.

Voice   Whee-ah, chuck-chuck; also scolds, screams, and whistles.

Discussion Anyone who has camped in the mountains or the northern forests is familiar with this bird, formerly called "Canada Jay" and popularly known as the "Whiskey Jack" or "Camp Robber." This bird is very tame and is attracted to campsites, where it appropriates as much food as possible. It stores scraps of frozen meat, suet, or hide, gluing them into balls with its saliva and hiding them among pine needles.