nutcracker (bird)

Following reappraisal of species limits in the genus in Asia, the genus is now treated as containing four species:{{cite journal |display-authors=et al |last1=de Raad |first1=J. |title=Speciation and population divergence in a mutualistic seed dispersing bird |journal=Communications Biology |date=2022 |volume=5 |issue=429 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1038/s42003-022-03364-2 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s42003-022-03364-2 |access-date=15 October 2024|pmc=9085801 }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/crows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=17 September 2024 }} This follows the split of Southern and Kashmir nutcrackers from a former broad view (e.g. Voous, 1977{{cite journal |last1=Voous |first1=Karel |title=List of Recent Holarctic Bird Species |journal=Ibis |date=1977 |volume=119 |page=383}}) of all Eurasian nutcrackers as being a single species.

{{Species table |genus=Nucifraga |authority-name= Brisson|authority-year= 1760 |species-count=four|no-note=y|narrow-percent=75}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Clark's nutcracker |binomial=Nucifraga columbiana

|image=File:Clark's Nutcracker - Nucifraga columbiana.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Wilson |authority-year= 1811|authority-not-original=yes

|range= Western North America

|range-image=File:Nucifraga columbiana map.svg

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Northern nutcracker |binomial=Nucifraga caryocatactes

|image=File:Nucifraga caryocatactes perched Kunice 4.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Linnaeus|authority-year=1758 |authority-not-original=yes

|range= Central and northeastern Europe across northern Asia east to northeast Japan

|range-image=File:Map of distribution of Nucifraga caryocatactes.png

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Four subspecies |bullets=on

| N. c. caryocatactes (Linnaeus, 1758)

| N. c. macrorhynchos C. L. Brehm, 1823

| N. c. rothschildi E. J. O. Hartert, 1903

| N. c. japonica E. J. O. Hartert, 1897

}}

}}

{{Species table/row

|name=Southern nutcracker |binomial=Nucifraga hemispila

|image=File:9030玉山國家公園星鴉.jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Vigors |authority-year=1831 |authority-not-original=

|range=Himalayas to north China and Taiwan

|range-image=File:Map of distribution of Nucifraga hemispila.png

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies={{Collapsible list |expand=yes |title=Four subspecies |bullets=on

| N. h. hemispila Vigors, 1831

| N. h. macella Thayer & Bangs, 1909

| N. h. interdicta Kleinschmidt & Weigold, 1922

| N. h. owstoni Ingram, C, 1910

}}

}}

{{Species table/row

|name= Kashmir nutcracker |binomial=Nucifraga multipunctata

|image=File:Large-spotted Nutcracker (Nucifraga multipunctata) (52606512253).jpg|image-size=180px |image-alt=

|authority-name=Gould|authority-year= 1849 |authority-not-original=

|range= Western Himalayas

|range-image=File:Map of distribution of Nucifraga multipunctata.png

|range-image-size=180px

|size=

|habitat=

|hunting=

|iucn-status= LC

|population=

|direction=

|subspecies=

}}

{{Species table/end}}

The most vital food resources for these species are the seeds (pine nuts) of various pines (Pinus sp.), principally the cold-climate (far northern or high altitude) species of white pine (Pinus subgenus Strobus) with large seeds: P. albicaulis, P. armandii, P. cembra, P. flexilis, P. koraiensis, P. parviflora, P. peuce, P. pumila, P. sibirica and P. wallichiana, and also the pinyon and lacebark pines. In some regions, where none of these pines occur, the seeds of spruce (Picea sp.) and hazel (Corylus sp.) nuts form a vital part of the diet too. Their bills are specialized tools for extracting seeds from pine cones.{{cite book |last1=Lanner |first1=Ronald M. |title=Made for each other: A symbiosis of birds and pines |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-508-903-0}}

Surplus seed is always stored for later use, and it is this genus that is responsible for the re-establishment of their favoured pines over large areas either burnt in forest fires or cleared by man. One nutcracker can store as many as 98,000 pine nuts in a single season, and remembering the location of 75% to over 90% of their stash, even when buried in snow more than a metre deep. The memory is also retained for 7–8 months, enabling them to feed their young on seed stored the previous autumn.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00jmqk1 "Yellowstone" BBC2, episode 3"] Nutcrackers will cache seeds as far as {{convert|32|km|mi}} away from parent plants, about eight times further than related dispersers like jays and crows, and are thus important in re-establishing forests and responding to climate change.{{cite book |last1=Tomback |first1=Diana F. |author-link=Diana Tomback|editor1-last=Sekercioglu |editor1-first=Cagan |editor2-last=Wenny |editor2-first=Daniel G. |editor3-last=Whelan |editor3-first=Christopher J. |title=Why birds matter: avian ecological function and ecosystem services |date=2016 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |isbn=022638263X |page=201 |chapter=7}}

Various insects are also taken, including bee and wasp larvae, and birds' eggs and nestlings, and carrion if it is found.

Nesting is always early in this genus, so as to make the best use of pine nuts stored the previous autumn. The nest is usually built high in a conifer. There are normally 2–4 eggs laid and incubated for 18 days. Both genders feed the young which are usually fledged by about 23 days and stay with their parents for many months, following them to learn food storage techniques.

None of the species are migratory, but they will leave their usual ranges if a cone crop failure causes a food shortage.

{{Reflist}}

• [http://ibc.hbw.com/ibc/phtml/especie.phtml?idEspecie=8266 Nutcracker videos] on the Internet Bird Collection

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