Clark's nutcracker

A pale-gray, black-winged cousin of the crow that hides tens of thousands of pine seeds each fall and remembers where to find them again.

Clark's nutcracker at a glance

Nucifraga columbiana klarks NUT-krak-er; Nucifraga columbiana is noo-sih-FRAY-guh koh-lum-bee-AY-nuh

Type
Bird · corvid
Diet
Omnivore
Size
About 11 to 12 inches long (28 to 31 cm), a bit bigger than a robin, gray with black wings marked by white patches and a long, straight, pointed bill.
Lifespan
Often around 8 to 17 years in the wild.
Conservation
Least concern, though it depends on whitebark pine, a tree now in trouble from disease and beetles.

Eats pine seeds, whitebark pine seeds, insects, berries, small animals

Clark's nutcracker lives on pine seeds, especially the fat seeds of the whitebark pine. It has a pouch under its tongue that can carry dozens of seeds at once. In late summer and fall it buries thousands of seeds in the ground to dig up over winter, and it remembers a remarkable number of the hiding spots. It also eats insects, berries, and now and then a small animal.

Should you worry?

Harmless to people. It is bold and may land close by picnic areas hoping for a handout, but do not feed it. Human food is bad for wild birds and teaches them to beg and steal. Keep your snacks packed away, watch it cache seeds, and let it stay wild.

High along the rim at Crater Lake, or at the tree line around Paradise and Sunrise on Mount Rainier, or swooping between the pines at Lassen Volcanic, a pale-gray bird with black wings flashes white patches as it flies. It is about the size of a robin, with a long, straight, pointed bill. This is Clark’s nutcracker, a cousin of the crows and jays. It is easy to tell from the dark-blue Steller’s jay that shares these same forests: the nutcracker is gray, and it wears black and white on its wings.

That bill has one main job. The nutcracker lives on pine seeds, especially the fat seeds of the whitebark pine, and it carries them in a special pouch under its tongue that can hold dozens at a time. Through late summer and fall a single bird may bury close to thirty thousand seeds, in thousands of little hidden stashes across the mountainside, then dig them up again through the winter. Its memory for where it put them, months later and under deep snow, is one of the best known in the animal world.

The seeds it buries and never comes back for are how the forest gets planted. Those forgotten seeds sprout into new whitebark pines, so the bird and the tree depend on each other, and where the nutcracker goes the high pine forest tends to follow. It is bold enough to land near a picnic table hoping for a handout, but a wild bird should not eat human food, so keep the snacks packed away and watch it work instead, ferrying seeds from the treetops to the ground with its throat full.

Did you know?

  • One nutcracker can hide up to about 30,000 pine seeds in a single fall, in thousands of little buried stashes, and find most of them again months later under the snow. Its memory for hiding spots is one of the best known in the animal world.
  • It plants the forest. The seeds a nutcracker buries and never digs up sprout into new whitebark pines, so the bird and the tree depend on each other. Where the nutcracker goes, the high pine forest follows.
  • It carries its groceries in its throat. A special pouch under its tongue lets it hold dozens of seeds at once, so it can fly seeds from the trees to its hiding grounds in big loads.

Common questions

Is Clark's nutcracker the same as a Steller's jay?

No. Both are corvids, but the nutcracker is gray with black-and-white wings and a long straight bill, while the Steller's jay is dark blue with a black crest.

How does it remember thousands of hiding spots?

It has an excellent memory for places and uses landmarks like rocks and trees to relocate its buried seeds, even under snow, months later.

Why does it matter for the forest?

The seeds it buries and forgets grow into new whitebark pines. The bird helps plant the very forest it lives in.

Why is it named after Clark?

For William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition, who first described the bird in 1805.

Where will I see one?

Up high near the tree line: along the rim at Crater Lake, around Paradise and Sunrise at Mount Rainier, and swooping between the trees throughout Lassen Volcanic.

Where it lives

Where we got this