Clark's Nutcracker

Clark's Nutcracker

About the photographs

About the map

Play sound from this species

Menu

1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Conservation Status
10. Other Names

A bird of the high mountain regions of the American West, the Clark's Nutcracker is specialized for feeding on large pine seeds. Its behavior, annual cycle, and even its morphology are closely tied to this diet.

Cool Facts

• The Clark's Nutcracker has a special pouch under its tongue that it uses to carry seeds long distances. The nutcracker harvests seeds from pine trees and takes them away to hide them for later use.
• The Clark's Nutcracker hides thousands and thousands of seeds each year. Laboratory studies have shown that the bird has a tremendous memory and can remember where to find most of the seeds it hides.

• The Clark's Nutcracker feeds its nestlings pine seeds from its many winter stores (caches). Because it feeds the young on stored seeds, the nutcracker can breed as early as January or February, despite the harsh winter weather in its mountain home.

• The Clark's Nutcracker is one of very few members of the crow family where the male incubates the eggs. In jays and crows, taking care of the eggs is for the female only. But the male nutcracker actually develops a brood patch on its chest just like the female, and takes his turn keeping the eggs warm while the female goes off to get seeds out of her caches.

Description

• Size: 27-30 cm (11-12 in)
• Weight: 106-161 g (3.74-5.68 ounces)

• Large songbird.
• Gray all over.
• Black wings and tail, with white patches.
• Long, stout, pointed black bill.

• White under tail.
• Face pale gray to white around eyes, forehead, and chin.
• Short bristles covering nostrils.
• Eyes dark brown.
• Legs black.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike in plumage, but males average slightly larger.

Immature

Juvenile similar to adult, but buffy gray with dull black or brown wings.

Similar Species

• Gray Jay has short bill, blackish cap, long tail, and lacks black or white in wings and tail.

Sound

Sharp, rapid, grating "kraaks."

Range

Range Map

© 2004 Cornell Lab of Ornithology

About the map

Summer Range

Resident in mountains from British Columbia to California and New Mexico.

Winter Range

Mostly resident in higher mountains, but may wander widely in lower-elevation forests during winter.

Habitat

Open montane pine forests.

Food

Pine seeds. Also insects, small animals, carrion.

Behavior

Foraging

Uses long sharp bill to open unripe pine cones and remove the seeds.

Conservation Status

Populations fluctuate, but may be increasing in some areas. Declining pine species in some areas may lead to reduction in nutcracker numbers.

Other Names

Cassenoix d'Amérique (French)
Cascanueces Americano (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Tomback, D. F. 1998. Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana). In The Birds of North America, No. 331 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.