Canada jay

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Related to Canada jay: gray jay, Perisoreus canadensis

Canada jay

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Canada jay

(Animals) a large common jay of North America, Perisoreus canadensis, with a grey body, and a white-and-black crestless head

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

gray′ jay′

a deep-gray and white jay, Perisoreus canadensis, with no crest, common in North American coniferous forests. Also called Canada jay.

[1935–40]

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Noun

Canada jay - a jay of northern North America with black-capped head and no crest; noted for boldness in thievery

camp robber, gray jay, grey jay, Perisoreus canadensis, whisker jack

jay - crested largely blue bird

genus Perisoreus, Perisoreus - Canada jays

Perisoreus canadensis capitalis, Rocky Mountain jay - a Canada jay with a white head; widely distributed from Montana to Arizona

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Others include the gray jay (sometimes gray and white; also called Canada jay), found as far south as northern California and Arizona; blue jay (blue crest, back, wings, and tail; white on lower body with black "necklace" on throat), found in central Colorado and Wyoming; Mexican jay (like scrub, with gray throat), found in the Southwest; and pinon jay (wholly dull blue), found from the intermountain area east to Oklahoma.

How do you feel about jays?

Her powerful spirit helper, the poohegan, or Canada jay confuses the hunter so he forgets his commitment to his other wife and son.

The Hunter's Promise: An Abenaki Tale

And second, though there were all kinds of scavengers in the area, ranging from black bears down to Canada jays, the only thing feeding on this fellow were maggots.