Clark's nutcracker

I've had an awful couple of days. Food poisoning I think. Sorry about the lack of an update yesterday I just wasn't up to it

Art

Not sure see how I'm feeling later

Animal

photo by Giant Ginkgo

Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) is a mid-sized corvid from western North America. They are noteworthy for having probably the best long -term spatial memory among birds. One of the major components of their diet is pine seeds which they store in caches of 5 to 10 seeds in an area that can span 12 miles. They can hide tens of thousands of these seeds per bird. They can then relocate these caches up to 6 months later even under multiple feet of snow. They have a pouch under their tongue that helps them in carrying the pine seeds. They feed their young with these caches and so tend to nest far earlier then most other birds of the area. Both the male and female of this species develop brood patches on their chest to aid them in caring for the young during the winter. Clark's nutcracker gets it's name from William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition though at the time he thought it was a woodpecker.