Goodbye, Gray Jay. Hello, Canada Jay!

[Mark Amershek]

Received this information in an email from ABA (Michael Retter) today:

The English name of Perisoreus canadensis has changed from Gray Jay to Canada Jay. This reverses a committee (American Ornithological Society’s Committee on Classification and Nomenclature of North and Middle American Birds) action from 1957 and is also a nod toward the possible adoption of the species as the official bird of Canada. The committee went against precedent with this decision: its often-voiced opinion that, unless there’s a species-level change, it’s not wise to tinker with long-established English names, didn’t win out this time.