What's in a name? Well our First Nations people knew this creature as "wiss-ka-tjon" or "wis-ka-chon".  In the old-time lumbering days the Jay would visit the lumberjacks in the northern forests of Canada. In turn, the lumberjacks shared their grub with it and came to call it "Whiskey-Jack".  Now the bird's modern "common" name is "Gray Jay" or "Canada Jay"(and its scientific name is Perisoreus Canadensis).

          The Canada Jay, somewhat larger than a robin, lives in the cool, northern, Canadian forests and out of reach of many of us southern Ontario city dwellers. We may never see it unless we travel north of Lake Superior or up into Algonquin Park in the late fall or winter.  However, as the bird is distinctly "Canadian" and has a "legendary historical background" I decided to adopt its "old-timer's" name for this website and to learn more about it.

         Because of this, I have set aside a special page, "The Gray Jay Page" devoted to the Canada Jay, its territory, and the scientists who have contributed much to our knowledge of this "historical" bird". The page includes accounts of "visits" that I have had with a family of Gray Jays in Algonquin Park along with some brief descriptions of "Gray Jay encounters" of a few other people across the country.

The theme of the Whiskey-Jack website

         The Whiskey-Jack site is not just a "birding" site. It also has an extensive collection of "Amateur Naturalist" subjects from Butterflies to Walking sticks". All The items that are covered are those that aptly fit the theme: "Once seen/heard - never forgotten".