Whisky-Jack

The Canada Jay, also known as Whisky Jack and Grey Jay was to be Canada’s national bird but …..
“The Royal Canadian Geographical Society ran a two-year National Bird Project, inviting the public to vote for their favourites. The winner: The gray jay, a clever and sometimes friendly inhabitant of all provinces and territories.The Society and its magazine, Canadian Geographic, had no official role in choosing a national symbol but they hoped the federal government would go along with the results, and hatch a national bird for Canada’s 150th birthday in 2017. Now, however, the official word is in from Canadian Heritage:
“At this time, the Government of Canada is not actively considering proposals to adopt a bird as a national symbol.”
Boom. The national bird won’t fly. Or will it?
Robert Bateman, recalled in a blog post how he met the jay in his teens: “So on a hunch I took a little piece of sandwich and held it out. Then I was treated to the thrill of the trusting bird landing on my fingers. Friendly but wild. Could that be Canadians at their best?”
McGill’s David Bird also likes the gray jay for all kinds of reasons: It stays here all winter, figures prominently in Aboriginal folklore, and isn’t hunted or endangered. It rarely lives in the United States. It’s really, really smart. (By the way, he argues it is better known as the Canada jay. Gray jay is an American term.)
Others point out that the little jay has at least two distinct subspecies — some naturalists say three. Two solitudes! Multiculturalism! It was perfect.
Supporters vowed Tuesday to fight on for the jay.
“We are not giving up,” McGill University ornithologist David Bird wrote in an email. “We plan to continue beseeching the government to undertake this act in any we can.”

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