Spit and Survival Among Gray Jays

On a balmy, 25-degree afternoon in winter, three Vermonters visit the tiny town of Victory in the Northeast Kingdom in search of the fearless Gray Jay. Surrounded by an abundance of snow and chickadees, biologists Kent McFarland and Sara Zahendra stand at the Victory basin with Bill Barnard, a professor at Norwich University, who has been studying Gray Jays for over 20 years.

In this edition of VCE’s Outdoor Radio, Kent and Sara discuss, among other things, how Gray Jays use saliva to cache food and get through harsh winters.

Listen

Gray Jay Links

• Vermont eBird Map of Gray Jay observations in Vermont in the past 10 years
• A Gray Jay field guide
• About the Victory Basin Wildlife Management Area
• Norwich Record: Bill Barnard on the Gray Jay

Bryan Pfeiffer

Bryan Pfeiffer, a VCE research associate, is a writer and field biologist whose articles and essays have appeared in Orion, Aeon Magazine, The New York Times, Field & Stream, The Progressive, Northern Woodlands and lots of other places. Bryan was lead field lepidopterist for the Vermont Butterfly Survey and is co-coordinator of the Vermont Dragonfly and Damselfly Survey. He teaches writing to graduate students in the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont.