Clark's nutcracker
Nucifraga columbiana
Bird
A montane corvid that harvests pine seeds with a dagger-like bill, carries them in a pouch under its tongue, and buries them in thousands of small caches it relocates months later from memory. The caches it does not recover germinate, which makes the bird a primary disperser for several western pines rather than only a seed predator.
Plants in the catalog
Seed plants · 1
Carries pine seed in a sublingual pouch and buries it in thousands of small caches; the unrecovered ones germinate, so the bird disperses the pine as well as eating it.
Range
Mountains of western North America, from British Columbia and Alberta south through the Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and Cascades into the American Southwest.
Sources & citations
Cite this page
Use this citation for the Plotwright wildlife page. The source cards below show the upstream references behind the taxonomy, range, conservation, host, forage, and habitat claims.
Plotwright. (n.d.). Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana). Retrieved 2026, July 31, from https://plotwright.com/wildlife/clarks-nutcracker
Sources for wildlife facts
11 cited fact fields are backed by the source cards below.
Cornell Lab All About Birds: Clark's Nutcracker
Species account for the sublingual pouch, seed-caching behaviour, cache recovery from memory, and montane conifer range.
Backs 4 fields
Taxonomy
Range
Foraging
Lifecycle
GBIF: Nucifraga columbiana
GBIF backbone key 2482614 is an exact accepted match for Nucifraga columbiana in family Corvidae.
Backs 2 fields
Taxonomy
Range
iNaturalist: Nucifraga columbiana
iNaturalist taxon 8520 is the active species record with community observation range data.
Backs 2 fields
Taxonomy
Range
Wikipedia: Clark's nutcracker
Corroborating reference for the caching mutualism and the pine species most closely tied to it.
Backs 3 fields
Taxonomy
Range
Foraging