Spotted nutcracker

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Spotted nutcracker
Orzechowka zwyczajna nad Morskim Okiem.jpg
Near the Morskie Oko, Poland
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Corvidae
Genus: Nucifraga
Species:
N. caryocatactes
Binomial name
Nucifraga caryocatactes
Map of distribution of Nucifraga caryocatactes.png
Synonyms
  • Corvus caryocatactesLinnaeus, 1758

The spotted nutcracker, Eurasian nutcracker, or simply nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes) 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 (absent from most of the body in southern Asian populations, which are sometimes treated as a separate species, southern nutcrackerN. hemispila). The wings and upper tail are virtually black with a greenish-blue gloss.

Contents

The spotted nutcracker is one of three currently-recognized species of nutcracker. The Kashmir nutcracker (Nucifraga multipunctata) was formerly considered a subspecies of the spotted. The other member of the genus, Clark's nutcracker (N. columbiana), occurs in western North America.

Taxonomy

Skeleton Nucifraga caryocatactes 201.jpg
Skeleton

The nutcracker was one of the many species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name Nucifraga caryocatactes. [2] The scientific name is a reduplication; nucifraga is a Neo-Latin translation of German Nussbrecher, "nut-breaker" based on Latin nucis "nut", and frangere "to shatter", [3] and caryocatactes based on Greek: karuon "nut", and kataseio "to shatter". [4] The common English name nutcracker first appears in 1693 in a translation of a German travel guide, [5] [6] where it is a calque on the German name Nußknacker, [7] as the bird was not recorded in England until 1753. [4] Other Germanic languages have etymologically related names: Danish: nøddekrige; Dutch: notenkraker; Norwegian: nøttekråke; Swedish: nötkråka.[ citation needed ]

Subspecies

There are nine recognised subspecies [8] [9]

From Phrumsengla National Park, Bhutan Spotted Nutcracker Phrumsengla NP Bhutan.jpg
From Phrumsengla National Park, Bhutan

Some authors split this species into two, a northern species containing caryocatactes, japonicus, interdicta, rothschildi and macrorhynchos and a southern species including hemispila, yunnanensis, macella and owstoni, based on distinct plumage differences between the two groups.[ citation needed ]

Description

Poster Nucifraga caryocatactes.jpg

The spotted nutcracker is a dark brown, broad-winged, short-tailed corvid. Body plumage is mid-to-dark chocolate brown, heavily spotted with white on face, neck, mantle and underparts. It has a large white loral spot, a white eye-ring, blackish-brown cap extending onto the nape, dark blackish wings with a greenish-blue gloss, all white vent, and dark tail with white corners above and a white terminal band on the undertail. In flight, broad wings, white vent and short tail are noticeable; the flight undulating. The black bill is slender and rather long, sharply pointed, and varies in size amongst races. The iris, legs and feet are black.

Nutcrackers range from 32–38 cm in length (from tip of beak to tip of tail) and have a wingspan ranging from 49–53 cm.

Spotted nutcracker call. Savoie, French Alps

The voice is similar to that of the Eurasian jay and is loud and harsh. It is described as kraak-kraak-kraak-kraak.

Behaviour

Feeding

In western Uttarakhand, India Spotted Nutcracker O DSC02850.jpg
In western Uttarakhand, India

The most important food resources for this species are the seeds (pine nuts) of various pines (Pinus sp.), principally the cold-climate (far northern and high altitude) species of white pine (Pinus subgenus Strobus) with large seeds: P. armandii, P. bungeana, P. cembra, P. gerardiana, P. koraiensis, P. parviflora, P. peuce, P. pumila, P. sibirica and P. wallichiana. In some regions, where none of these pines occur, the seeds of spruce (Picea sp.) and hazel nuts (Corylus sp.) form an important part of the diet too. The forms that take hazel nuts have thicker bills for cracking their hard shells, with a special ridge on the inside of the bill edge near the base. If the shell is too hard, it holds the nut between its feet and hacks at it with its bill like a chisel.[ citation needed ]

A special adaptation is found in the tongue of the nutcracker. The tip of the tongue forks with two long pointed appendages which are keratinized into nail like surfaces. This is thought to help them handle and shell conifer seeds. [10]

Surplus seed is always stored for later use and it is this species that is responsible for the sowing of new trees of their favoured pines, including the re-establishment of the Swiss pine (Pinus cembra) over large areas in the Alps of central Europe formerly cleared by man.[ citation needed ]

Various insects are also taken, and also small birds, their eggs and nestlings, small rodents and carrion such as roadkills. It digs out bumble bee and wasp nests avidly to get at the grubs.[ citation needed ]

Breeding

Egg of spotted nutcracker Tannenhaher Ei.jpg
Egg of spotted nutcracker

Nutcracker couples stay together for life and their territory expands between 20 and 30 acres. Nesting is always early in this species across its whole range, so as to make the best use of pine nuts stored the previous autumn. The nest is usually built high in a conifer (sometimes broadleaved trees are used) and usually on the sunny side. 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 the food storage techniques essential for survival in their harsh environment.[ citation needed ]

Distribution

The spotted nutcracker has an extensive range forming a broad swathe east–west from Scandinavia right across northern Europe, Siberia and to eastern Asia, including Japan, inhabiting the huge taiga conifer forests in the north.[ citation needed ]

Three further disjunct populations occur in mountain conifer forests further south, one centered on the mountains of central and southeast Europe (the Alps, the Carpathians and the Balkan Peninsula mountains); another in the western Himalayas; and the third in western China seaboard and separated from the northern population by a relatively small gap in the north centre of China. See subspecies list above for race distributions. Some of the populations can be separated on bill size.[ citation needed ]

This species has a large range, extending over 10,000,000 km2 globally. It also has a large global population, with an estimate of between 800,000-1,700,000 individuals in Europe. [11]

Spotted nutcrackers are not migratory, but will erupt out of range when a cone crop failure leaves them short of a food supply, the thin-billed eastern race macrorhynchos being the more likely to do this. [12] Britain records very sporadic vagrants, but in 1968 over 300 nutcrackers visited Britain as part of a larger irruption into western Europe, probably due to a spell of early cold weather in Siberia. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine</span> Genus of plants in the conifer family Pinaceae

A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus Pinus of the family Pinaceae. Pinus is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eurasian nuthatch</span> Small passerine bird species

The Eurasian nuthatch or wood nuthatch is a small passerine bird found throughout the Palearctic and in Europe. Like other nuthatches, it is a short-tailed bird with a long bill, blue-gray upperparts and a black eye-stripe. It is a vocal bird with a repeated loud dwip call. There are more than 20 subspecies in three main groups; birds in the west of the range have orange-buff underparts and a white throat, those in Russia have whitish underparts, and those in the east have a similar appearance to European birds, but lack the white throat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nutcracker (bird)</span> Genus of birds

The nutcrackers (Nucifraga) are a genus of three species of passerine bird, in the family Corvidae, related to the jays and crows.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clark's nutcracker</span> Species of bird

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine nut</span> Edible seeds of certain species of pines

Pine nuts, also called piñón, pinoli, or pignoli, are the edible seeds of pines. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, only 29 species provide edible nuts, while 20 are traded locally or internationally owing to their seed size being large enough to be worth harvesting; in other pines, the seeds are also edible but are too small to be of notable value as human food. The biggest producers of pine nuts are China, Russia, North Korea, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pinyon pine</span> Group of conifers

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.

<i>Pinus albicaulis</i> Pine tree species found in North America

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine grosbeak</span> Species of bird

The pine grosbeak is a large member of the true finch family, Fringillidae. It is the only species in the genus Pinicola. It is found in coniferous woods across Alaska, the western mountains of the United States, Canada, and in subarctic Fennoscandia and across the Palearctic to Siberia. The species is a frugivore, especially in winter, favoring small fruits, such as rowans. With fruit-crop abundance varying from year to year, pine grosbeak is one of many subarctic-resident bird species that exhibit irruptive behavior. In irruption years, individuals can move long distances in search of suitable food supplies, bringing them farther south and/or downslope than is typical of years with large fruit crops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pine siskin</span> Species of bird

The pine siskin is a North American bird in the finch family. It is a migratory bird with an extremely sporadic winter range.

<i>Pinus flexilis</i> Pine tree found in North America

Pinus flexilis, the limber pine, is a species of pine tree-the family Pinaceae that occurs in the mountains of the Western United States, Mexico, and Canada. It is also called Rocky Mountain white pine.

<i>Pinus pumila</i> Species of conifer

Pinus pumila, commonly known as the Siberian dwarf pine, dwarf Siberian pine, dwarf stone pine, Japanese stone pine, or creeping pine, is a tree in the family Pinaceae native to northeastern Asia and the Japanese isles. It shares the common name creeping pine with several other plants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stone pine</span> Species of pine tree

The stone pine, botanical name Pinus pinea, also known as the Italian stone pine, Mediterranean stone pine, umbrella pine and parasol pine, is a tree from the pine family (Pinaceae). The tree is native to the Mediterranean region, occurring in Southern Europe and the Levant. The species was introduced into North Africa millennia ago, and is also naturalized in the Canary Islands, South Africa and New South Wales.

<i>Pinus cembra</i> Species of plant

Pinus cembra, also known as Swiss pine, Swiss stone pine, Arolla pine, Austrian stone pine, or just stone pine, is a species of pine tree in the subgenus Strobus.

<i>Pinus sibirica</i> Species of conifer

Pinus sibirica, or Siberian pine, in the family Pinaceae is a species of pine tree that occurs in Siberia from 58°E in the Ural Mountains east to 126°E in the Stanovoy Range in southern Sakha Republic, and from Igarka at 68°N in the lower Yenisei valley, south to 45°N in central Mongolia.

<i>Pinus koraiensis</i> Species of conifer

Pinus koraiensis is a species of pine known commonly as the Korean pine. It is a relic species of the Tertiary, identified as a rare tree species by United Nations. It is native to eastern Asia: Korea, northeastern China, Mongolia, the temperate rainforests of the Russian Far East, and central Japan. In the north of its range, it grows at moderate elevations, typically 600 to 900 metres, whereas further south, it is a mountain tree, growing at 2,000 to 2,600 m elevation in Japan. Other common names include Chinese pinenut. The ancient woodland of P. koraiensis on the earth is about 50 million hectares, and China has about 30 million hectares, accounting for 60%. It is a second-class national key protected plant in China. P. koraiensis is a tree species with high economic and ecological value. The official name in Chinese is "红松 hóng sōng/red pine", because almost every part of it is related to red.

<i>Pinus gerardiana</i> Species of plant

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.

<i>Pinus armandii</i> Species of conifer

Pinus armandii, the Armand pine or Chinese white pine, is a species of pine native to China, occurring from southern Shanxi west to southern Gansu and south to Yunnan, with outlying populations in Anhui. It grows at altitudes of 2200–3000 m in Taiwan, and it also extends a short distance into northern Burma. In Chinese it is known as "Mount Hua pine" (华山松).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Reserve</span> Strict nature reserve in Moscow Oblast, Russia

Prioksko-Terrasny Nature Biosphere Reserve is one of Russia's smallest zapovedniks, sprawling over an area of 5,000 hectares along the left bank of the Oka River in the Serpukhov District of Moskva Oblast. It was established in 1945 as part of the Moscow Nature Reserve and is home to 900 plant species, 130 bird species, and 54 mammal species. A wisent nursery was established in 1948 to populate the region with European bison from the Belovezhskaya Pushcha and Western Caucasus. There is also a small herd of American bison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kashmir nutcracker</span> Species of bird

The Kashmir nutcracker or large-spotted nutcracker is a passerine bird related to the spotted nutcracker. Until recently, it was considered a subspecies. It is found in the western Himalayas.

Papigochic Flora and Fauna Protection Area is a protected area in Chihuahua state of Mexico. It covers an area of 2227.64 km2 in the eastern Sierra Madre Occidental. To the northwest it adjoins Tutuaca Flora and Fauna Protection Area.

References

  1. BirdLife International (2016). "Nucifraga caryocatactes". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species . 2016: e.T103727252A87382835. doi: 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103727252A87382835.en . Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. Linnaeus, Carl (1758). Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata (in Latin). Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). p. 105.
  3. Jobling, James A (2010). The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names. London: Christopher Helm. p. 276. ISBN   978-1-4081-2501-4.
  4. 1 2 3 "BTO Web: BirdFacts > crows > Nutcracker". 16 July 2010.
  5. "Nutcracker" . Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press.(Subscription or participating institution membership required.)
  6. John Ray. A Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages.. Vol. II xi. 181.
  7. See, for example, Brehms Thierleben. Allgemeine Kunde des Thierreichs, Fünfter Band, Zweite Abtheilung: Vögel, Zweiter Band: Raubvögel, Sperlingsvögel und Girrvögel. Leipzig: Verlag des Bibliographischen Instituts, 1882. S. 446-450.
  8. "The OSME Region List of Birds – Passerines – Consultative Draft October 2007" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-05-11.
  9. 中国科学院动物研究所. 星鸦云南亚种. 《中国动物物种编目数据库》 (in Chinese). 中国科学院微生物研究所. Archived from the original on September 10, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  10. Jackowiak, Hanna; Skieresz-Szewczyk, Kinga; Kwieciński, Zbigniew; Trzcielińska-Lorych, Joanna; Godynicki, Szymon (2010). "Functional Morphology of the Tongue in the Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)" (PDF). Zoological Science. 27 (7): 589–594. doi:10.2108/zsj.27.589. PMID   20608848. S2CID   44736491.
  11. "BirdLife International. Data Zone. Species factsheet: Nucifraga caryocatactes. Downloaded 20/11/2008".
  12. Lars Svensson et al. (1999), Collins Bird Guide. London: HarperCollins, p. 332.