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The first thing you notice about this flamboyant, inquisitive bird is its extra-long, crowbar-like, black bill. The Clark’s Nutcracker uses this mighty tool to smash acorns, pry apart pinecones, and dig grubs out of the ground or tree trunks. Hidden inside and behind this mighty beak is a throat pouch in which the bird can carry dozens of pine seeds at a time. Once the pouch is filled, the bird flies to a soft patch of earth or rotting wood, and caches the seeds for later use. Incredibly, one individual nutcracker may remember and monitor up to 2,000 such caches! Scientists have learned that nutcrackers keep track of their treasure spots by memorizing the cache’s location in relation to surrounding objects, such as boulders, trees and creeks. The pine seeds and nuts are retrieved from the cache in late winter and early spring to feed the adult nutcracker, as well as its brood of 2-4 young. When caches are either abandoned or not completely emptied, the hidden seeds germinate, generating the next generation of forest trees. Some tree species, such as the Whitebark Pine, benefit greatly from this arrangement.
To see a Clark’s Nutcracker, Virginia, you are best off to visit one of our National Parks in the high Rockies. Nutcrackers can be seen playing in the updrafts above sheer mountain cliffs, and sometimes even come into campgrounds and parking areas to beg tourists for peanuts. About every 5 or 10 years, nutcrackers leave their mountain stronghold to spend the winter exploring the surrounding desert or prairie.
If you are very, very lucky, you might even see a Clark’s nutcracker in North Dakota. The species has been seen in our state about 20 times within the last 100 years. I saw one last week in Pembina County. It was frequenting a farmer’s bird feeder and the farmer was kind enough to allow me and many other birders to visit his place to view his special guest. Because of this experience, Virginia, I know that nutcrackers are real. They live not only in the hearts of men, but also in the skies of North Dakota. So do not think of a nutcracker as a toy solider in a swirling ballet. Rather revel in the antics, romance, and poetry of the real thing. A 12 inch-long corvid visitor from the western mountain peaks.
Author works as a biologist for the Dakota Prairie Grasslands in Bismarck. This article first appeared in the Bismarck Tribune.
Just another one of Dan's great articles from our December 2006 issue...
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