Clark’s Nutcracker
Nucifraga columbiana
- Family
- Crows, Jays, and Magpies (Corvidae)
- Order
- Passeriformes
Overview
Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), also known as Clark's 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 late summer and fall, and then retrieving them in the winter and spring 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.
Summary from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Range and habitat
Rocky Mountains (southwestern Canada to northern Baja California); casual to northwestern Mexico.
Range description: AviList Global Avian Checklist.
Continents
Countries
Sources and further reading
- Wikipedia: Clark's nutcracker
- eBird: sightings, maps and photos
- xeno-canto: sound recordings
- Birds of the World: full species account (subscription)
- BirdLife DataZone: status and threats
- IUCN Red List (threat status)
- AviList global checklist (taxonomy)
Last updated September 29, 2026.