CLARK'S NUTCRACKER
(Nucifraga columbiana)
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| © H. Kliewer |
The bird was named for William Clark, co-leader of the 1804-1806 Lewis and Clark "Corps of Discovery" expedition from St. Louis, Missouri to the mouth of the Columbia river at the Pacific ocean. This bird also has a European cousin as mentioned in one of the reference links (below).
Unfortunately I have not been out west to see this bird. However I have done some reading about it and I'm convinced that, like the Gray Jay, the Nutcracker is one of our "unforgettable" birds. Clark's Nutcracker belongs to the same family (Corvidae) as Crows, Jays, and Ravens and as we all know, these are "character" birds. From its apparent boldness in the photograph, I assume it has many behavioural traits similar to those of the Gray Jay although it is somewhat larger and much noisier.
Clark's Nutcracker is a "high country" mountain bird of the western United States and Canada. It is well known for its habit of caching pine seeds in a multitude of places (over 3,000 for an adult bird!) which it apparently remembers. It has a special pouch in its throat to carry a goodly number of harvested seeds to its caching places.
There is a unique relationship between certain species of pines and the Nutcracker. The Whitebark pine, for example, produces cones that contain large nutritious seeds ("pine nuts"). The seeds lack "wings" for wind dispersal and the cones do not normally open at all to release the seeds. The tree really depends upon birds, and especially the Nutcracker, to break open the cones and disperse the seeds. The Nutcracker breaks open the cones with its tough beak, picks out the seeds, fills its throat pouch to the size of a golfball, and then flies off to bury them in the soil at one of its many caching locations. Each Nutcracker only knows where it has cached its seeds!
In the subsequent year the situation changes: The presence of a tree seedling will often advertise the location of a cache. As not all of the cached seeds will sprout, Nutcrackers know enough to seek out pine seedlings, root around them, and pick out the ungerminated seeds as a food bonus.
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| ©W.Schwabe |
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| ©M. Ondrich |
In Milan's words:
"There were about half a dozen of these birds around the lake and they attracted a lot of attention because of their clever and agile antics. I think they entertained the tourists more than some organised spectacle".
So, if you're on a tour of the mountain country of western United States or Canada, keep an eye out for the Clark's Nutcracker (and Gray jays as well). It's another one of the important ecological links of our world!
Acknowledgement and thanks:
To Henry Kliewer for providing the initial photograph of the Nutcracker and thus the incentive for the creation of this page.
To Mike Fung for providing the photograph and narative of his encounter with this very interesting bird.
To Werner Schwabe for providing additional photograps from Manning Park.
To Milan Ondrich for providing his Lake Louise photograph and commentary.
Parkway The Spectacular "Icefields Parkway" from Banff (Lake Louise) to Jasper.
Lewis & Clark A bit of American history: The story of the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Album Werner Schwabe's album of Manning Park photographs from a trip there on May 17, 2005. This is just part of Werner's extensive collection of photographs of fauna, flora and scenes of British Columbia. Take a break and visit Werner's website . A word of caution, though, you may be greatly tempted to pack up and move there!
Hans garden Hans' garden bird page: European Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes) with picture. Note the picture not available at this time, however will keep the link here for future possibilities.