A bird that changes colour without moulting: how the wîskicâhk (Canada Jay, Perisoreus canadensis) tricked the taxonomists

• Published in: Canadian journal of zoology Vol. 99; no. 3; pp. 183 - 195
• Main Authors: Strickland, Dan, Doucet, Stéphanie M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 1840 Woodward Drive, Suite 1, Ottawa, ON K2C 0P7 NRC Research Press 01.03.2021; Canadian Science Publishing NRC Research Press
• Subjects: Analysis; Browning; Canada Jay; changement de couleur; Color; Color of birds; Coloration; colour change; Fins; geai gris; Gray Jay; griseus; Molting; morphotype; morphotype Perisoreus canadensis; moult; mue; Museums; mésangeai du Canada; Naming; New subspecies; obscurus; Perisoreus canadensis; Physiological aspects; Pigments; Plumage; Plumes; Spectral analysis; Spectrum analysis; Taxonomy; whiskyjack; Canada

Avian and mammalian colours are thought to be constant in life and in museum specimens, but several early 20th-century taxonomists singled out the Canada Jay (Perisoreus canadensis (Linnaeus, 1766)) as having unstable feather pigments and warned against using old museum specimens for taxonomic purpo...