2018 new name
Gray Jay is now Canada Jay, its old name
In 2018 Gray Jay got its old name back: it is now Canada Jay, the name it had in the first official checklists of North American birds. It is the same bird.
Updated
What changed
Lives all year in the northern forests of Alaska and Canada, and in the northeastern US. In the West it lives in mountain forests south to New Mexico and Arizona, and near the Pacific coast south to northern California.
Why the name changed
Canada Jay was the bird's name in the first two editions of the official checklist of North American birds, in 1886 and 1895. In 1957 the checklist switched to Gray Jay.
Dan Strickland and six other ornithologists asked the AOS to bring the old name back. They showed that the 1957 change went against the committee's own naming rules.
The AOS agreed. It noted that Canada Jay matches the scientific name, Perisoreus canadensis, and the bird's main home. The change also came after a campaign to make the Canada Jay the national bird of Canada.
Who decided, and when
- American Ornithological Society (AOS): the 59th Supplement to its Check-list, which restored the name Canada Jay
- eBird and the Clements Checklist: its 2018 taxonomy update
- AviList, the shared world checklist: agrees, with the same name
Which bird is it?
There is nothing new to tell apart: Gray Jay and Canada Jay are two names for the same bird.
What it does to your list
A new name only: your Gray Jay now counts as Canada Jay. Your total doesn't change.
Check your own list. Drop your eBird download or type your birds: the free checker shows which of them this and other recent changes touched.
Check my list