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The Boreal Chickadee’s scientific Name is Poecile Hudsonicus, found in Boreal forests in Canada and the USA.  They are a passerine bird species, which means they have 3 toes facing forwards 1 facing backwards.  Adults are 12.5-14.5cm long, and their weight is 7-12.4 g.  They have grey-brown upper parts with a brown cap and greyish wings and tail, their face is mainly grey with white on the sides.  Their under parts are white with brown on the flanks and a black throat, they have a short dark bill, short wings and a long notched tail.  Their wingspan is 210mm and their call is a husky tisk-a-dee-dee.  Their breeding habitat is coniferous woods in Canada, Alaska and they don’t usually move too much farther south than their breeding area, for the winter.  They nest in a hole in the tree, using a natural cavity or an old woodpecker nest.  Five to seven eggs are laid, their eggs are white with fine reddish-brown spotting.  The chickadee pair remains together all year round and may mate for life, they eat mainly seeds and insects.

Birds

Boreal Chickadee
Black Backed Woodpecker

The Black Backed Woodpecker is also known as the arctic three toed woodpecker.  A woodpeckers diet is mostly insects, especially larvae of wood-boring beetles.  Some woodpeckers feed on ants, nuts or flying insects.  Woodpeckers are generally good for the trees health, this is because they feed on wood-boring beetles.  The Black Backed Woodpeckers also feed on other things, such as spiders, centipedes or some fruit and seeds.  Black Backed Woodpeckers lay a clutch of 2-6 eggs.  Although both parents incubate the egg, the female has shorter shifts and the male always incubates at night. A way to distinguish a male black backed woodpecker from a female is that males have a bright yellow to golden–yellow patch on the crown of the head. The female's crown is entirely black, also the female's is also slightly smaller than the male's.  A black backed woodpecker call is very distinctive short, high pitched double click as well as a long, peculiar sounding granting snarl, which varies in pitch. Like al woodpeckers do the black backed woodpecker bang its beak on the wood making a long drumming roll that tends to accelerate towards the end. This sound is mainly used for attracting mates and to advertise a territory. 

Grey Jays

The Grey Jay’s scientific Name is Perisoreus Canadensis, other names are the Canada Jay, or whiskey jack.  They are a passerine bird species, which means they have 3 toes facing forwards 1 facing backwards.  Found in Boreal Forests, they are a large songbird but smaller than other jays.  They are 25-33cm long with a wingspan is 45cm and a weight of 65-70g.  Adults have medium grey back feathers with a lighter grey. Its head is mostly white with a dark grey or black nape and hood, with a short black beak and dark eyes, the long tail is medium grey with lighter tips.  The legs and feet are black and the plumage is thick, providing insulation in the bird's cold native habitat.  They live for about 18 years, and their sounds consist of clicks and chuckles, and whistled quee-oos.

spruce grouse 

During the winter, the diet of a spruce grouse consist almost entirely of pines and spruce needles. At other times of the year spruce grouse feeds on shoots, leaves, flowers and berries of other plants and also feed on some fungi, insects, and snails. When a predator approached a spruce grouse, it on camouflage and immobility. These species prefers to walk on the ground or along tree limbs rather than fly. Like other kinds of spruce grouse, in the fall they grow 'snow shoes' which is a short lateral extensions, or pectinations on their toes. the female spruce grouse are paler then the males and superbly camouflage in the forest, being largely brownish to grey with extensive brown and white barring. Both male and female spruce grouse have a blackish or reddish brown beak and a scarlet area above the eyes which becomes a conspicuous bright red in the male daring counter ship. Spruce grouse has variety of calls which are a hissing sound and purrs. Female spruce grouse makes territorial 'songs' consisting of a long series. The males spruce grouse uses a range of non vocals sounds such as a soft drumming and a loud wing-clap which is produced only in the subspecies.          

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