No matter the season, hikers familiar with the higher summits of the White Mountains, know there tends to be a rapid transition in climate zones in the region. From the warmer climbs of the surrounding valleys, the forest rises rapidly amongst sugar maples, briches, and other hardwoods. A determined hiker–before too long–reaches the damp, mossy boreal forest of spruce and balsam fir trees. In the warmer months, the air fills with the cleansing, aromatic scent of these conifers. The hiker may be aware of the changing forest and smells, but often unbeknownst is a change in the types of creatures that inhabit this evergreen forest high on the slopes.

Among the creatures a visitor to the boreal forest of our higher mountains may encounter is the gregarious “Canada Jay.” Also known as a “Gray Jay” or as a “whiskey Jack” back in the day, the Canada Jay usually first captures a hiker’s attention through a high squeaky, chattering whistle or one of many of the other sounds and chirps it emits. In addition to these many sounds, Canada Jays are also good mimics and can imitate many other bird sounds, such as that of a hawk.

If you’re able to locate the source of these sounds, you might catch a glimpse of the Canada Jay. If you catch it in mid-flight, you’ll see a bird about the size of a blue jay gliding ever so slowly and with hardly a sound. It’s as if you were watching a newly fallen autumn leaf floating through the air. Then it will just as softly fall down onto a new perch, often a dead snag. This slow, soundless glide is a wonderful thing to watch, reminiscent of the way an owl glides and perches at night.

The deceptively cute Canada jay is one of the most intrepid birds in North America, living in the northern forests year-round and rearing chicks in the dark of winter, high curious and always on the outlook for food, Canada Jays eat just about anything, from berries to small animals. Although we prefer to keep them wild, they may even hand to grab a raisin or peanut.

If you happen to be munching on a lunch or snack, the Canada Jay is sure to swoop down on any morsel you drop. As such, these beautiful white and gray birds are often seen by lunching hikers in the White Mountain high country above 3,000 feet. But don’t take the sighting of one for granted. The White Mountains of New Hampshire represent a tiny piece of the spruce and fir forest habitat that is much more common in northern Canada and Alaska. In fact, 73 percent of Canada Jays breed in the Canadian forest of spruce and fir. These spruce/fir forests are known as boreal forests, after Boreas, the Greek God of the north wind. In the eastern U.S., boreal forests are primarily found at the higher elevations of the White Mountains, Adirondack Mountains in New York, the Green Mountains in Vermont, and in the higher elevations and swamps and bogs of the northern Maine woods. Our White Mountains are but a small sliver of their typical Canadian habitat, which is found over a thousand miles to the far north. For this, we are very lucky to be able to see Canada Jays so far south. The boreal habitats of the White Mountains are truly island realms of scented evergreens and unique wildlife.

The first time I ever encountered a Canada Jay was as a college student hiking in the White Mountains for a weekend with my brother. I remember seeing the slightly unfamiliar birds and wondering if they were some kind of blue jay with the wrong color pattern. They do, after all, closely resemble a blue jay in size and general shape. But the ghostly colors of white and gray or charcoal are, in fact, good diagnostic markers. They are also cloaked in a very thick layer of downy feathers that leaves them well prepared for northern winters. This gives them a very fluffy appearance when seen up close. You won’t hear those familiar loud piercing cries that blue jays make either. Just squeaks and chattering sounds. The location where I saw my first Canada Jay was at the Zeacliff lookout, overlooking the Pemigewasset Wilderness. I’ve seen them in the same location several times since, as many hikers lunch at that wonderful vista, to the delight of the Canada Jay or “camp robber.” Please don’t feed them, though. It’s always a good idea to keep wildlife “wild” and not dependent on human handouts. Another spot I encounter them frequently is the junction of the Crawford Path and the Mizpah Cut-Off trail below Mount Pierce.

Canada Jays have many interesting characteristics that can make them quite endearing. They often travel around in family groups and will mate for life with the same partner. I can personally recall coming upon a family of Canada Jays in a large bog in the Adirondacks where there were juveniles and adults mixed together. The juveniles are a charcoal color all over and stand out amongst their more ghostly patterned parents.

Canada Jays breed and start building a nest in the dead of winter. At some point in February or March, a female will lay a clutch of two to five eggs. Only one of the juvenile birds will stick around all summer. The smaller bird or birds are eventually driven out by the larger bird who remains with the parents until it can find a suitable territory of its own. If you see a Canada Jay while hiking in the White Mountains, keep close alert—there may be a full flock coming your way.

Like most of the other corvid family members, which include jays, crows, ravens, and magpies, Canada Jays seem to have a relatively high level of intelligence. They show off some of that intelligence with their ability to store food intentionally and then come back for retrieval at a later date. They have extra sticky saliva that allows them to stick food morsels behind the platy bark of spruce trees for later retrieval. Perhaps they have great memories, as they have very low mortality rates in the harsh winter months. Although they are known to sometimes seek lower elevations in winter, I have personally seen Canada Jays at treeline in the middle of winter and have regularly run into them at close to 4,000 feet at that time of year. Anyone who has faced the harsh winds and cold of high elevations in winter can appreciate the hardiness of these birds!