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alonglistofbirds · 3 months

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[2501/11080] Clark's nutcracker - Nucifraga columbiana

Order: Passeriformes Suborder: Passeri Superfamily: Corvoidea Family: Corvidae (corvids)

Photo credit: Eric VanderWerf via Macaulay Library

#birds #Clark's nutcracker #Passeriformes #Passeri #Corvoidea #Corvidae #Nucifraga #birds a to z #undescribed

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mountrainiernps · 1 year

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Clark’s Nutcrackers, Nucifraga columbiana, are sometimes confused with their smaller cousins, Canada Jays, Perisoreus canadensis. While both are black, gray and white and both are members of the Corvid family, there are a few differences.

One big difference is that the Clark’s nutcracker is bigger. The Canada jay has about an 18 inch span from wingtip to wingtip. The nutcracker wingspan is longer at 24 inches across.

Their coloring is a bit different as well. Canada jays have black on their head while the Clark’s nutcracker is more gray. Also Clark’s nutcrackers have mostly black wings except for white on the trailing edge of the secondaries.

Another big difference? Pine seeds. Clark’s nutcrackers are amazing cachers of pine seeds. They love these seeds, especially the white bark pine. Seeds from these trees are full of calories. To take advantage of these seeds, and other conifer seeds, these birds have developed some great ways to cache and store food for the winter and even spring. They have a pouch under their tongue that allows them to hold 30-150 seeds. Once all gathered, the Clark’s nutcracker can fly up to 15 miles away to dig a small trench, bury the seeds and memorize the local landmarks (like trees, rocks, logs). Working all fall gathering pine seeds allows these birds to eat all winter. In fact, their memory is great even 6 months later. Of course, what the birds forget or don’t need to eat is a seed planted for the future. A single Clark’s nutcracker can cache up to 30,000 seeds in a single season.

Have you seen a Clark’s nutcracker in the park? Have you watched them flying across a meadow? Heard their “krraaaaak” as they call to each other? ~ams

More information on Clark’s Nutcrackers in the national park can be found here https://www.nps.gov/mora/learn/nature/corvids.htm

These photographs are from years past and do not reflect current conditions. NPS/B. Klopp Photo. Clark’s nutcracker sitting on a rock. June, 2005. NPS/L. Lane Photo. Two Clark’s nutcracker sit on the hood of a blue car with car antenna.

#encuentra tu parque #find your park #national parks #mount rainier national park #wildlife #birds #winter #Clark's nutcracker

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uwmspeccoll · 2 years

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A Sand County Feathursday

One of the most noteworthy books to come out of Wisconsin is A Sand County Almanac by the equally noteworthy Wisconsin naturalist and conservationist Aldo Leopold (1887-1948). Considered a landmark in the American conservation movement, A Sand County Almanac is a collection of essays mainly concerning the land around Leopold’s home in Sauk County, Wisconsin, that advocates the author’s idea of a "land ethic," or a responsible relationship between people and the land they inhabit.

Our copy is a first edition published in New York by Oxford University Press in 1949 with illustrations by the American wildlife artist and fellow conservationist Charles W. Schwartz (1914-1991). The book was published a year after Leopold’s death so he never got to witness its significant impact on the conservation and environmentalist movements.

Schwartz made a special emphasis on depicting the avian inhabitants of Sauk County, and we show a few of those images here that include Canada Geese (Branta canadensis), Black-capped Chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), American Woodcocks (Scolopax minor), and a Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos). A couple of other species shown here are from Leopold’s visits to Mexico and the American southwest, Gambel's Quail (Callipepla gambelii) and Clark’s Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana).

The image of the chickadee being annoyed by its newly banded leg has a particularly charming description:

65290 was one of 7 chickadees constituting the ‘class of 1937.’ When he first entered our trap, he showed no visible evidence of genius. Like his classmates, his valor for suet was greater than his discretion. Like his classmates, he bit my finger while being taken out of the trap. When banded and released he fluttered up to a limb, pecked his new aluminum anklet in mild annoyance, and hurried away to catch up with the gang. It is doubtful whether he drew any philosophical deductions from his experience, . . . for he was caught again three times that same winter. . . . By the fifth winter 65290 was the sole survivor of his generation. Signs of genius were still lacking, but of his extraordinary capacity for living, there was now historical proof.

Our copy of A Sand County Almanac is from the collection of another heralded Milwaukee-area environmentalist and activist, Lorrie Otto.

View more Feathursday posts.

#Feathursday #Aldo Leopold #Charles W. Schwartz #A Sand County Almanac #Oxford University Press #Canada Goose #Black-capped Chickadee #American Woodcock #Mallard #Gambel's Quail #Clark's Nutcracker #Lorrie Otto #wildlife art #bird art #birds #birbs!

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soren-barnowl · 9 months

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Clark's Nutcracker

July 23, 2023

Nikon Coolpix P900

#bird #bird photography #photography #wildlife photography #photography blog #Clark's nutcracker

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animal-families-tournaments · 3 months

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#polls #birds #clark's nutcracker #collared crow

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photo-biont · 8 months

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#clark's nutcracker #birds #animals #mount margaret #mount saint helens #skamania county #washington #olympus om 5

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christophersirgo · 9 months

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2023-08-04 - Clark's Nutcracker, Chittenden Road Trailhead - Yellowstone

#Clark's Nutcracker #yellowstone national park

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phoenixcatch7 · 1 year

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The Wayne doll house

Have some haunted doll au, since it's been bubbling away in my mind.

The bat cave is large and sprawling, many layers and tunnels and hollowed out cracks in the walls. It takes many years to fully reinforce to prevent stray kids from tripping into stagnant waters or fall down crags as he once did. The doll cave, as it becomes known, is in one of the deepest, darkest corners, one where the lights of the furnished caverns above don't reach.

It's one late night sitting at the computer when it suddenly occurs to Bruce that his first encounter with a doll was at the well entrance, many levels above.

There was nothing there when he went back.

-

The justice league stared at the subaru. The subaru, having no eyes, did not stare back.

The seven of them had just finished a very long, arduous mission, and narrowly escaped government censure after the base they'd been raiding had turned out to belong to some corrupt official. With the alert up, they couldn't escape through city airspace, or even in their hero suits.

So civilian it was.

Batman had hotwired some bloke's car while the rest of them ducked into alleys and shop bathrooms, but the problem remained. There was seven of them. And five seats.

"I can shift into something more suitable for being carried," suggested j'onn, "but I believe one of us might have to hide."

"Foot well?" Hal tried, and everyone looked around at the tall, bulky, broad heroes.

"Think they'd have to go in the boot," Barry finally said. Everyone immediately turned to him. "No."

Batman spoke up before the discussion could devolve.

"I think.... I would be best for that."

The team stared.

"Batsy?"

Having no lungs meant he could not drag in the tired sigh he wished, but whatever force allowed this body to talk was capable of approximating something suitably resigned.

"As I am, I am... incapable of fully passing as human. It would be best if I remained out of sight."

"So just? Go change? I swear we won't be weird about whoever you are under the mask. Even if you're like, bald."

"Thank you, Wally, but I'm afraid I'm being serious." Reaching for the mask in broad daylight was unpleasant, but the glue and wires held as he gave it a few thorough tugs. "It doesn't detach."

Everyone stared. Clark reached out as if he wanted to check, but withdrew.

"Do you even have a civilian identity??" Oliver eventually asked. "Because at this point I'm genuinely not sure."

Wayne Enterprises and Queen Industries had a meeting that same evening. "Hn."

"Can we go back to the 'incapable of passing as human' part?!"

"We can discuss it in the car," he snapped, stalking past Barry and popping the boot. "In case you haven't forgotten, we're on a time limit."

For once, that seemed to encourage them, and batman, with great dignity, folded his joints and cape into the small space, ignoring Hal's mutter of 'what kind of contortionist -' as he slammed the lid. With a little shuffling he managed to activate his comms.

"I will inform the watchtower of our delay."

"Batman, they're tapping all outgoing signals, you can't -"

"It won't trigger," he interrupted, before he twisted his consciousness and sent it spiralling across the country.

Bruce awoke with a groan, stretching his limbs and taking a moment to marinate in his annoyance before he reached for the comm and voice modulator on the beside table.

"Batman to watchtower, we've encountered delays. If the Texan state government calls we haven't entered the state in six weeks. Batman out."

-

"Alien?"

"No."

"Reanimated corpse?"

"No."

"Uh... Demon?"

"Hm. No."

"You're not just a meta human, are you?"

"No."

"Vampire?"

"No."

"Robot??"

"No."

"Batsy, please, someone's got to win the bet eventually. How do we even know you're not lying?!"

"You don't," Batman said, not looking up from his paperwork and Flash groaned, letting his sticky notes fall to the floor as he buried his head in his arms.

"One day," he bemoaned to the keyboard, "one day we'll figure it out."

"Until then please keep your eyes on the monitors."

Flash groaned again.

-

Robin ducked under superman's arm as he scuttled down the corridor, laden with the night's haul of snacks. The real problem wasn't getting them - stopping league members from raiding the kitchen would be extremely counterproductive - but keeping them until he could return home to his human body to eat them. Batman had started searching him each time they left and it was really cutting into his daily sugar intake. Unfair! Just because he didn't actually use energy to stay up my night to fight crime, it felt like he did!!

'Oh, you're broken, Robin, oh, don't go out until the glue has fully set, Robin' his arm was fine! It wasn't like there was much crime to be fought on the watchtower anyway! At least not physically.

So he was pretty pleased with himself until he went to set the snacks down and found that the tar like glue they used had soaked through the sleeve and gotten all over his chocolates.

With his other hand, he tried to pry them off, wincing as the wrappers tore and stuck. He tried to shake it, ignoring the way his elbow rattled in the joint.

"Come on, come on - aw, cheezits."

The arm fell off. Robin stared despondently at the limb, surrounded by torn wrappers and dripping black glue where it connected to the elbow. The sour stink of formaldehyde filled the air.

He was going to be in such trouble with Bruce.

The click of the door jerked his head up.

Flash stood in the doorway, wide eyed. Robin stared back.

Flash screamed.

Oh yeah @dehydratedmockingbird have a thing