While on my unsuccessful moose search in northern Maine recently, I came across a bird found only in points north of middle New England. 

I knew what it was and launched the field guide app on my phone to gather a little information on the species.

To my surprise, nothing showed up when I searched for the bird.

“How could that be?“ I asked myself. “I know what bird it is and I know what it’s called. Why would it not show up on a search in a field guide to North American birds?”

Then it hit me. I was searching the wrong name. The gray jay is no longer called the gray jay. It is back to being the Canada jay. It had formerly been known as the Canada jay, got switched to gray Jay, and in 2018, got changed back to Canada jay. I had known this before, and even mentioned it in a previous bird column, but had totally forgotten while I was in the field at that moment.