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Boreal birds: Adirondack "islands" of boreal forests harbor northern life.

Article Excerpt
"Hey! Look out, he's in the mustard!"

The gray jay had flown in behind John and grabbed a beak-full of hot mustard from the container. We were sitting on a foot bridge over the Oswegatchie River, six miles into the Five Ponds Wilderness in the northwest Adirondacks, enjoying some rare February sun, when the jays found us. The family of three gladly shared our lunch, taking our offerings of cheese and pita bread. We easily understood why they are called "camp robbers."

The gray jay is one member of a group we call boreal birds. Here in New York State, these birds live where boreal forests of black spruce, tamarack and balsam fir are found. Boreal forests, named for Boreas, the Greek god of the north wind, make up almost one third of the earth's forested land. In the Adirondack Forest Preserve, boreal forest is found in patches with the more common Northern hardwood forest. The widespread logging of the late 1800s and the fires that followed in the early 1900s decreased the amount of boreal forest found in the Adirondacks. Some forests that were once mostly conifers grew back instead as broad-leafed trees.

In North America, most of the boreal forest is found in Canada, where it makes up a large portion of forested habitat. Boreal birds are common in those northern forests, but they are not so easy to find in...

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