Norris Lab
Navigation

Norris Lab

measuring gray jay photo by Peter Wolf

Canada Jays

Canada Jays are year-round residents of the boreal forest that rely on cached food for survival during the winter. Amazingly, Canada Jays (formerly Gray Jays) also begin breeding in late winter when little fresh food is available so adults also rely almost exclusively on cached food for reproduction. Since 2009, Ryan Norris and his graduate students have been collaborating with Dan Strickland, former Chief Park Naturalist for Algonquin Park, on Canada Jay research in Algonquin Park. Dan began marking Canada Jays in Algonquin and tracking their reproductive success in the mid 1970’s. For the past two decades, the Algonquin population of Canada Jays has declined by over 50% and we are currently examining hypotheses for the causes of this decline, including how long-term changes in climate may be influencing the quality and quantity of cached food. More recently, we are collaborating with biologists in Denali National Park, Alaska to examine the ecology of Canada Jays at the northern edge of their range. We have also started studying a marked population of Canada Jays on Mount Washington, Vancouver Island. 

Canada Jay Publications

Freeman. NK, Norris, DR, Sutton, AO & Newman AEM. 2020. Raising young with limited resources: supplementation improves body condition and advances fledging date of Canada Jays. In press: Ecology

Sutton, AO, Strickland, D, Freeman, NK, Newman, AEM & Norris, DR. 2019. Fall freeze-thaw events carry over to depress late-winter reproductive performance in Canada Jays. In press: Royal Society, Open Science

Derbyshire, R, Norris, DR, Hobson KA & Strickland, D. 2019. Isotopic spiking and food dye experiments provide evidence that Canada Jay nestlings receive cached food from their parents. In press: Canadian Journal of Zoology

Whelan, S, Strickland, D, Morand-Ferron, J & Norris, DR. 2017. Reduced reproductive performance associated with warmer ambient temperatures during incubation in a winter-breeding, food-storing passerine. Ecology & Evolution 00:1-8.

Sutton, AO, Strickland, D & Norris, DR. 2016. Food storage in a changing world: implications of climate change for food-caching species. Climate Change Responses 3:12

Whelan, S, Strickland, D, Morand-Ferron, J & Norris, DR. 2016. Male experience buffers female laying date plasticity in a winter-breeding, food-storing passerine. Animal Behaviour 121: 61-70.

Derbyshire, R, Strickland, D & Norris, DR. 2015. Experimental evidence and 43 years of monitoring data support the food limitation hypothesis in a boreal food-caching songbird. Ecology 96: 3005-3015.

Strickland, D & Norris, DR. 2015. An example of phenotypic adherence to the island rule? – Anticosti gray jays are heavier but not structurally larger than mainland conspecifics. Ecology & Evolution 5:3687-3694.

Sechley, TH, Strickland, D & Norris, DR. 2015. Linking the availability of cached food to climate change: an experimental test of the hoard-rot hypothesis. Canadian Journal of Zoology 93: 411-419.

Sechley, TH, Strickland, D, Norris, DR. 2014. Causes and consequences of pre-laying weight gain in a food-caching bird that breeds in the late winter. Journal of Avian Biology 45: 85-93.

Norris, DR, Flockhart, DTT & Strickland, D. 2013. Contrasting patterns of survival and dispersal in multiple habitats reveals an ecological trap in a food-caching bird. Oecologia 173: 827-835.

Strickland, D, Kielstra, B & Norris, DR. 2011. Experimental evidence for a novel mechanism driving variation in habitat quality in a food-caching bird. Oecologia 167: 943-950.

Canada Jays begin building nests between mid-February and mid-March and females incubate eggs in sub-zero temperatures, often during severe snowstorms. What is remarkable is that females rely almost exclusively on cached food during this time because there is little fresh food available during the depths of winter. To top it off, males rarely feed females while they are  incubating, likely because they want to minimize activity around the nest so as not to attract predators.

Canada Jays can be extremely friendly and eager to take handouts (one of their nicknames is the “camp robber”). We take advantage of this behaviour to weigh females regularly prior to breeding, which helps us to determine female condition and to identify when females are about to begin incubating. A piece of cheese is placed on a weight scale and the band combination of the bird and the weight output from the screen is videotaped using a simple digital camera. Using this method, we recently showed that females increase their body mass by 25% in preparation for nesting, an amazing feat considering that most or all of their bulking up is done by retrieving food that was stored 6-7 months prior to breeding (click here to view Sechley et al. 2014 paper). Photo by Peter Wolf.

Gray Jay on weigh scale

Canada Jays are very charismatic birds that will often land on your hand for food. Many people visit Algonquin in the winter to see this species and other boreal specialists that are at the southern edge of their range. During the course of our research in the Park, we often interact with the public and the public often helps us out by providing the location and identity of colour-banded birds. Here, Dan Strickland and Ryan Norris are banding a Canada Jay with a group of cross-country skiers in the background. Photo by Peter Wolf.

Banding Gray Jays with public

Every year, we find and monitor all of the Canada Jay nests within our study population. Once the nestlings are old enough, we access nests take measures and attach a unique combination of colour leg bands that helps us identify birds the following fall and winter when they are adults. The picture shows Dan Strickland ascending to a nest to put back nestlings after they have been banded. When nests are too high to access by ladder, we hire an arborist to climb the tree. The arborist lowers down the nestlings, they are processed on the ground, and then sent back up to be put safely in the nest.

Banding Gray Jay Nestlings

Contact Us

The Norris Lab is located on the 2nd floor of the Summerlee Science Complex (Room 2403/2404).

phone:
519.824.4120 x56300

email the lab:
[email protected]

> Campus Map
> Visitor Parking Locations
> University of Guelph Homepage

Browse the Norris Lab

Dr. Ryan Norris

Research Themes

Current Study Systems

Who's in the Lab

Publications

Collaborators and Alumni

Powered by WordPress. Designed by WooThemes