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Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) at Crater Lake Nationa

The Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), is a large passerine bird, in the family Corvidae. It is ashy-grey all over except for the black-and-white wings and central tail feathers. All Clark's Nutcrackers have a sublingual pouch capable of holding around 90 seeds; the pouch greatly enhances the birds' ability to transport and store seeds...Surplus pine seed is stored, usually in the ground for later consumption, in as many as 2500 caches of 5-10 seeds each spread over an area of up to 20 × 20 kilometers (12.5 × 12.5 mi). The birds regularly store more than their actual needs as an insurance against seed theft by other animals. Closely tied in with this storage behaviour is the bird's remarkable long-term spatial memory as they are able to relocate caches of seeds with remarkable accuracy, even six months later, and even when the cache sites are buried under 3 feet of snow.

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Filename
20080823_083_Crater Lake_Family.jpg
Copyright
© 2009 Mark Eppley, Creation Light Photography, All Rights Reserved, creation-light.com
Image Size
2974x1991 / 1.9MB
Contained in galleries
Animals
The Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), is a large passerine bird, in the family Corvidae. It is ashy-grey all over except for the black-and-white wings and central tail feathers. All Clark's Nutcrackers have a sublingual pouch capable of holding around 90 seeds; the pouch greatly enhances the birds' ability to transport and store seeds...Surplus pine seed is stored, usually in the ground for later consumption, in as many as 2500 caches of 5-10 seeds each spread over an area of up to 20 × 20 kilometers (12.5 × 12.5 mi). The birds regularly store more than their actual needs as an insurance against seed theft by other animals. Closely tied in with this storage behaviour is the bird's remarkable long-term spatial memory as they are able to relocate caches of seeds with remarkable accuracy, even six months later, and even when the cache sites are buried under 3 feet of snow.