Episode 34: The Amazing World of the Canada Jay

Episode 34:  The Amazing World of the Canada Jay

Ever since I was a child, I’ve been enamoured by what my family used to call Whiskey Jacks - now called Canada Jays. I and my brothers would sit on our front deck holding our hands out whilst these little gray darlings would come and, with a little coaxing, take pieces of bread and other goodies from our hands.

In this episode, I am joined by Dan Strickland, former Algonquin Park Naturalist and Dr. Ryan Norris an ecologist who is an Associate Professor with the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of Guelph, Ontario. Both are experts on the ecology of the Canada Jay and share some of the latest research findings based on nearly 60 years of Algonquin Park-based research out of the Wildlife Research Station.

Some key links:

• Indigenous artist Mark Nadjiwan’s drawing of a Canada Jay can be found on his website https://www.threetreesart.com/for-seven-generations.html
• This episode’s musical interlude is called Dawn of the Lake from Dan Gibson’s Solitudes’ CD called Breaking Through the Mist. Many thanks to Digital Funding LLC, owners of the Dan Gibson's Solitudes' copyright, who have granted 

  permission for its use. Search using Dan Gibson’s Solitudes’ as the search term on your favourite music streaming site to listen to the entire CD.

• For more details on the Canada Jay research check out the Wildlife Research Station website publications page https://www.algonquinwrs.ca   Also check out Dr. Ryan Norris' complete research portfolio at the Ryan Norris Lab, including some really interesting work on migrating monarch butterflies.  https://norrislab.ca