This petition seeks to restore the name "Canada Jay" to this ubiquitous Canadian bird before the Canadian government adopts it nationally. Let's give back the true name to this fantastic bird and return its' authentic name so that it can truly represent the spirit of the nation it will henceforth carry the burden of symbolizing.
Petitioning Mélanie Joly, Justin Trudeau, Society of Canadian Ornithologists
Let's have the Gray Jay returned to its' original name the Canada Jay.
Petition by Ontario Master Naturalists
After a heated and somewhat controversial campaign by Canadian Geographic, the Gray Jay has been selected to represent Canada's national bird. We think that is great! So does the Royal Canadian Geographic Society as they have endorsed the Gray Jay and are hoping to have it adopted by the Canadian government upon their recommendation to help celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.
The problem is that the Gray Jay's true name Perisoreus canadensis is not the Gray Jay after all, but the much more apt "Canada Jay". According to Dan Strickland in an article written in Ontario Birds April 2017 this name change should never have happened. In a somewhat convoluted attempt to streamline nomenclature the American Ornithologists' Union in 1957 released list 5 with the "Canada Jay", as it had been historically identified, replaced with the name "Gray Jay". This, according to Strickland, with no valid taxonomic or nomenclatural reason.
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