Nutcrackers | |
---|---|
Nucifraga columbiana | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Aves |
Order: | Passeriformes |
Family: | Corvidae |
Genus: | Nucifraga Brisson, 1760 |
Type species | |
Corvus caryocatactes Linnaeus, 1758 | |
Species | |
Nucifraga caryocatactes Contents |
The nutcrackers (Nucifraga) are a genus of three species of passerine bird, in the family Corvidae, related to the jays and crows.
The genus Nucifraga was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760 with the spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes) as the type species. [1] [2] The genus name is a Neo-Latin translation of German Nussbrecher, "nut-breaker". [3]
The genus contains three species: [4]
Image | Scientific name | Common Name | Distribution |
---|---|---|---|
Nucifraga caryocatactes | spotted nutcracker | Europe and Asia | |
Nucifraga multipunctata | Kashmir nutcracker | the Himalayas | |
Nucifraga columbiana | Clark's nutcracker | western North America | |
The most important 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 hazelnuts (Corylus sp.) form an important part of the diet too. Their bills are specialized tools for extracting seeds from pine cones.
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. The nutcracker can store as many as 30,000 pine nuts in a single season, remembering the location of as many as 70% of their stash, even when buried in snow. [5] Nutcrackers will cache seeds as far as 32 kilometres (20 mi) away from parent plants, about eight times farther than related dispersers like jays and crows, and are thus important in re-establishing forests and responding to climate change. [6]
Various insects are also taken, including bee and wasp larvae, and also 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 sexes 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.
The Eurasian jay is a species of passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It has pinkish brown plumage with a black stripe on each side of a whitish throat, a bright blue panel on the upper wing and a black tail. The Eurasian jay is a woodland bird that occurs over a vast region from western Europe and north-west Africa to the Indian subcontinent and further to the eastern seaboard of Asia and down into south-east Asia. Across this vast range, several distinct racial forms have evolved which look different from each other, especially when comparing forms at the extremes of its range.
Garrulus is a genus of Old World jays, passerine birds in the family Corvidae.
Pica is a genus of seven species of birds in the family Corvidae in both the New World and the Old.
Clark's nutcracker, sometimes referred to as Clark's crow or woodpecker crow, is a passerine bird in the family Corvidae, native to the mountains of western North America. The nutcracker is an omnivore, but subsists mainly on pine nuts, burying seeds in the ground in the summer and then retrieving them in the winter by memory. The bird was described by the Lewis and Clark Expedition, with William Clark first observing it in 1805 along the banks of the Salmon River, a tributary of the Columbia River.
The genus Carduelis is a group of birds in the finch family Fringillidae.
The pinyon or piñon pine group grows in southwestern North America, especially in New Mexico, Colorado, Arizona, and Utah. The trees yield edible nuts, which are a staple food of Native Americans, and widely eaten as a snack and as an ingredient in New Mexican cuisine. The name comes from the Spanish pino piñonero, a name used for both the American varieties and the stone pine common in Spain, which also produces edible nuts typical of Mediterranean cuisine. Harvesting techniques of the prehistoric American Indians are still used today to collect the pinyon seeds for personal use or for commercialization. The pinyon nut or seed is high in fats and calories. In the western United States, pinyon pines are often found in pinyon–juniper woodlands.
Pinus albicaulis, known by the common names whitebark pine, white bark pine, white pine, pitch pine, scrub pine, and creeping pine, is a conifer tree native to the mountains of the western United States and Canada, specifically subalpine areas of the Sierra Nevada, Cascade Range, Pacific Coast Ranges, and Rocky Mountains. It shares the common name "creeping pine" with several other plants.
The spotted nutcracker, Eurasian nutcracker, or simply nutcracker is a passerine bird slightly larger than the Eurasian jay. It has a much larger bill and a slimmer looking head without any crest. The feathering over its body is predominantly chocolate brown with distinct white spots and streaks. The wings and upper tail are virtually black with a greenish-blue gloss.
The piapiac is an African bird in the crow family, and is the only member of the genus Ptilostomus. It is most closely related to the Central Asian ground jays.
The Namaqua dove is a small pigeon. It is the only species in the genus Oena. It is found over much of Sub-Saharan Africa as well as Arabia and Madagascar.
Pinus gerardiana, commonly known as the chilghoza pine or neja, is a pine native to the northwestern Himalayas in Afghanistan, northern Pakistan, Waziristan and northwestern India, growing at elevations of 1,800–3,350 metres (5,910–10,990 ft). It often occurs in association with Cedrus deodara, and Pinus wallichiana.
The orange-winged amazon, also known locally as orange-winged parrot and loro guaro, is a large amazon parrot. It is a resident breeding bird in tropical South America, from Colombia, Trinidad and Tobago south to Peru, Bolivia and central Brazil. Its habitat is forest and semi-open country. Although common, it is persecuted as an agricultural pest and by capture for the pet trade. It is also hunted as a food source. Introduced breeding populations have been reported in Puerto Rico and Tenerife in the Canary Islands.
Perdix is a genus of Galliform gamebirds known collectively as the 'true partridges'. These birds are unrelated to the subtropical species that have been named after the partridge due to similar size and morphology.
The cocks-of-the-rock, which compose the genus Rupicola, are large cotingid birds native to South America. The first alleged examples of this species were documented during a research expedition led by the explorer and biologist Sir Joshua Wilson in the mid-1700s. They are found in tropical and subtropical rainforests close to rocky areas, where they build their nests. The genus is composed of only two known extant species: the Andean cock-of-the-rock and the smaller Guianan cock-of-the-rock. The Andean cock-of-the-rock is the national bird of Peru.
Porphyrio is the swamphen or swamp hen bird genus in the rail family. It includes some smaller species of gallinules which are sometimes separated as genus Porphyrula or united with the gallinules proper in Gallinula. The Porphyrio gallinules are distributed in the warmer regions of the world. The group probably originated in Africa in the Middle Miocene, before spreading across the world in waves from the Late Miocene to Pleistocene.
Passer is a genus of sparrows, also known as the true sparrows. The genus contains 28 species and includes the house sparrow and the Eurasian tree sparrow, two of the most common birds in the world. They are small birds with thick bills for eating seeds, and are mostly coloured grey or brown. Native to the Old World, some species have been introduced throughout the world.
Manucodes are birds-of-paradise in the genus Manucodia that are medium-sized with black-glossed purple and green plumages.
The Cayenne jay is a species of bird in the family Corvidae. It is found in Brazil, French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname, and Venezuela. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forest, subtropical or tropical dry shrubland, and heavily degraded former forest.
The Hispaniolan oriole is a species of bird in the family Icteridae. It is endemic to the Caribbean island of Hispaniola.
The pinyon jay is a species of jay, and is the only member of the genus Gymnorhinus. Native to Western North America, the species ranges from central Oregon to northern Baja California, and eastward as far as western Oklahoma, though wanderers are often sighted beyond this range. It is typically found within foothills, especially where pinyon pines occur.