Clark's Nutcracker
Nucifraga columbiana
Also known as: Clark's Crow, Woodpecker Crow
About This Species
Listen for its harsh, grating call echoing through high-elevation pine forests of western North America, where it specializes in extracting seeds from whitebark and other pines with its strong bill. It is a habitual seed-cacher, burying thousands of seeds each autumn to retrieve through winter, so watch pine stands near treeline in autumn for birds actively harvesting cones. It is present year-round in its mountain range, though it may move to lower elevations in years of poor cone crops.
Ethical Viewing Guidelines
- It is generally approachable and often visits campgrounds and overlooks, but food should never be offered, since habituation to handouts can alter its natural foraging and caching behavior on which whitebark pine regeneration partly depends.
- It is protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in the United States and equivalent legislation in Canada, so nests and eggs must not be disturbed or collected.
- Viewing from trails and established overlooks rather than pushing into dense stands during the breeding season is the safer approach.
LCAvesPasseriformesCorvidae
Seasonal Activity
305,164 sightings · 2000–2026
Citizen science records via GBIF
All monthsThis month
Classification
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Aves
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Corvidae
Photo
(c) Daniele Colombo, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA)
CC-BY-NC-SA-4.0
Occurrence data from GBIF.