Clark’s Nutcracker

The Clark’s nutcracker is a corvid species native to British Columbia, Alberta and Western United States. It exhibits co-evolved mutualism with whitebark pine and is exclusive in the dispersal of its seeds. The diet of the nutcracker is primarily pine seeds, feeding them to nestlings and juveniles too. The nutcracker caches the seeds for winter and fall food supply; caching approximately 98,000 seeds during its lifetime in 7,500 locations. Seeds that are not consumed by the Clark’s nutcracker have an opportunity to germinate.

Issues:

• White pine blister rust and mountain pine beetle epidemics are reducing the population of whitebark pine, threatening the food supply for Clark’s nutcracker
• The Clark’s nutcracker is critical to the persistence of whitebark pine populations

Goals:

• Implement studies to determine population dynamics of Clark’s nutcracker