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.
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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
