Whiskey Jack Bird

About the Picture

A beautiful bird that has many names, often called Whiskey Jack, Gray Jay or “camp robber”. I know, the last name is quite interesting.

Whiskey Jacks can be found on many hikes in British Columbia, and it was quite a while ago when I did my first hike in BC, but I still remember that very thing which came as a positive shock to me.

Like most first time hikers, I was expecting to enjoy beautiful sceneries, breathtaking landscapes and a great workout. But I totally didn’t expect one thing.

Meeting birds, cause who would, right? It’s someway didn’t come to my mind. But it was not just like enjoying a hike and hearing birds singing somewhere in the trees.

It was totally different experience. Just when we got to Garibaldi Lake campsite, that’s where I met them for the first time. Birds that would not be scared of hikers, actually quite the opposite. They would approach, fly around, trying to get a share of hikers food.

You can be sure that if you put anything edible on your hand, they would land on it. If you sprinkle breadcrumbs over your hair, they would try to dig it and enjoy a meal from your head. Yes, I didn’t expect that at all.

So seeing hikers surrounded by birds trying to grab whatever they can, was an experience I didn’t expect I will witness. Since then, I love those birds and always tried to photograph them during my hikes.

That’s also why Gray Jays are called “camp robbers”, however, in a “positive” sense!

This picture of a Gray Jay (a formal name of the bird?) was taken during my hike to Elfin Lakes in Garibaldi Provincial Park, check here if you want to see more images from the hike, just in case you’re looking for great hikes around BC for yourself.

Whiskey Jack picture belongs to my animal images collection, find more images from the collection here.

This picture you can download for free if you’re a writer and looking for pictures of a Gray Jay for your blog or web article.

Taken by:

Luke Lawreszuk