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Northern nutcracker
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{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Nucifraga caryocatactes'' |volume=2016 |page=e.T103727252A87382835 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103727252A87382835.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref> | image = Orzechówka zwyczajna nad Morskim Okiem.jpg | image_caption = ''N. c. caryocatactes'' near the [[Morskie Oko]], [[Poland]][[File:Northen_Nutcracker.jpg|thumb|Northen nutcracker]] | genus = Nucifraga | species = caryocatactes | authority = ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|1758]]) | range_map = Map of distribution of Nucifraga caryocatactes.png | synonyms = *''Corvus caryocatactes'' {{small|Linnaeus, 1758}} }} The '''northern nutcracker''' ('''''Nucifraga caryocatactes'''''), previously known as '''spotted nutcracker''' and '''Eurasian nutcracker''', is a [[passerine]] bird in the crow family [[Corvidae]]. It is slightly larger than the [[Eurasian jay]] but 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 patches. The wings and upper tail are black with a greenish-blue gloss. The northern nutcracker is one of four species of [[nutcracker (bird)|nutcracker]] currently accepted. The [[southern nutcracker]] (''Nucifraga hemispila'') and the [[Kashmir nutcracker]] (''Nucifraga multipunctata'') were formerly considered as [[subspecies]] of the northern nutcracker. The species complex was known by the English name "spotted nutcracker". The other member of the genus, [[Clark's nutcracker]] (''Nucifraga columbiana''), occurs in western North America. ==Taxonomy== The northern nutcracker was one of the many species originally described by [[Carl Linnaeus]] in his landmark 1758 [[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'']], and it still bears its original name ''Nucifraga caryocatactes''.<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=Carl | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae, secundum classes, ordines, genera, species, cum characteribus, differentiis, synonymis, locis. Tomus I. Editio decima, reformata. | publisher=Holmiae. (Laurentii Salvii). | year=1758| pages=105 |language=la}}</ref> 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",<ref name=job>{{cite book | last= Jobling | first= James A | year= 2010| title= The Helm Dictionary of Scientific Bird Names | url= https://archive.org/details/Helm_Dictionary_of_Scientific_Bird_Names_by_James_A._Jobling | publisher= Christopher Helm | location = London | isbn = 978-1-4081-2501-4 | page= 276}}</ref> and ''caryocatactes'' based on [[Ancient Greek|Greek]]: ''karuon'' "nut", and ''kataseio'' "to shatter".<ref name=BTO>{{cite web |url=http://blx1.bto.org/birdfacts/results/bob15570.htm |title=BTO Web: BirdFacts > crows > Nutcracker|date=16 July 2010 }}</ref> The common English name ''nutcracker'' first appears in 1693 in a translation of a German travel guide,<ref name=OED>{{Cite OED |Nutcracker}}</ref><ref>John Ray. ''A Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages.''. Vol. II xi. 181.</ref> where it is a calque on the German name ''Nußknacker'',<ref>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.</ref> as the bird was not recorded in Britain until 1753.<ref name=BTO/> Other Germanic languages have etymologically related names: [[Danish language|Danish]]: ''nøddekrige''; [[Dutch language|Dutch]]: ''notenkraker''; [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]]: ''nøttekråke''; [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: ''nötkråka''. ===Subspecies=== [[File:Guest from the taiga.jpg|thumb|left|''N. c. macrorhynchos'' in Russia]] Four subspecies are accepted:<ref name=ioc>{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/crows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=17 September 2024 }}</ref> * ''N. c. caryocatactes'' ([[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758) – Europe * ''N. c. macrorhynchos'' [[Christian Ludwig Brehm|C. L. Brehm]], 1823 – Ural Mts. to east Siberia and northeast China * ''N. c. rothschildi'' [[Ernst Hartert|E. J. O. Hartert]], 1903 – [[Kazakhstan]] to northwest China * ''N. c. japonica'' E. J. O. Hartert, 1897 – [[Kuril Islands]] and north Japan ==Description== Northern nutcracker ranges from 32–38 cm in length (from tip of beak to tip of tail) and has a wingspan ranging from 49–53 cm. It 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 to stout and rather long, sharply pointed, and varies in size amongst races. The iris, legs and feet are black.<ref name=Collins>[[Lars Svensson (ornithologist)|Svensson, L.]], [[Killian Mullarney|Mullarney, K.]], & [[Dan Zetterström|Zetterström, D.]] (2009) ''[[Collins Bird Guide]]'', ed. 2. {{ISBN|0-00-219728-6}}, pages 376-377</ref> [[File:Spotted Nutcracker call.wav|thumb|Northern nutcracker call. Savoie, French Alps]] The voice is loud and harsh, somewhat similar to that of the [[Eurasian jay]] but slightly lower pitched and more on a single tone. It is described as ''kraak-kraak-kraak-kraak''. ==Behaviour== ===Feeding=== [[File:Zapfen-arve-tannenhaeher.jpg|thumb|left|A ''Pinus cembra'' cone stripped of its scales and seeds by a foraging nutcracker]] The most important food resources for this species are the seeds ([[pine nut]]s) of various [[pine]]s (''Pinus'' sp.), principally the cold-climate (far northern and high altitude) species of [[Pinus classification|white pine]] (''Pinus'' subgenus ''Strobus'') with large seeds: [[Pinus cembra|Swiss pine]] (''P. cembra''), [[Pinus koraiensis|Korean pine]] (''P. koraiensis''), [[Pinus parviflora|Japanese white pine]] (''P. parviflora'', [[Pinus peuce|Macedonian pine]] (''P. peuce''), [[Pinus pumila|Siberian dwarf pine]] (''P. pumila''), and [[Pinus sibirica|Siberian pine]] (''P. sibirica''). In some regions, where none of these pines occur, the seeds of [[Picea|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.<ref name=Lanner>{{cite book |last1=Lanner |first1=Ronald M. |title=Made for each other: A symbiosis of birds and pines |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-508-903-0}}</ref> A special adaptation is found in the tongue of the nutcracker. The tip of the tongue forks with two long pointed appendages which are keratinised into nail like surfaces. This is thought to help them handle and shell conifer seeds.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2108/zsj.27.589|title=Functional Morphology of the Tongue in the Nutcracker (''Nucifraga caryocatactes'')|journal=Zoological Science |volume=27|issue=7|pages=589–594|year=2010|last1=Jackowiak|first1=Hanna|last2=Skieresz-Szewczyk|first2=Kinga|last3=Kwieciński|first3=Zbigniew|last4=Trzcielińska-Lorych|first4=Joanna|last5=Godynicki|first5=Szymon|pmid=20608848 |s2cid=44736491 |url=http://www.zoo.poznan.pl/images/publikacje/2010.%20Functional%20Morphology%20of%20the%20Tongue%20in%20the%20Nutcracker.pdf}}</ref> 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 where it had formerly been cleared by human overcutting.<ref name=Lanner/> Various [[insect]]s are also taken, and also small [[birds]], their eggs and nestlings, small [[rodents]] and [[carrion]] such as roadkill. It digs out [[bumble bee]] and [[wasp]] nests avidly to get at the grubs.<ref name=Lanner/> ===Breeding=== [[File:Tannenhäher Ei.jpg|thumb|right|150px|Egg of northern nutcracker]] Nutcracker pairs stay together for life and their territory expands between 20 and 30 hectares. 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.<ref name=Lanner/> ==Distribution== The northern 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.<ref name=Lanner/> Disjunct populations occur in mountain conifer forests further south, in the [[mountain]]s of central and southeast Europe in the [[Alps]], the [[Carpathian Mountains|Carpathians]] and the [[Balkan Peninsula]] mountains. See subspecies list above for race distributions. Some of the populations can be separated on bill size.<ref name=Collins/> This species has a large range, extending over 10,000,000 km<sup>2</sup> globally. It also has a large global population, with an estimate of between 800,000-1,700,000 individuals in Europe.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SpcHTMDetails.asp&sid=5754 |title=BirdLife International. Data Zone. Species factsheet: Nucifraga caryocatactes. Downloaded 20/11/2008}}</ref> Northern nutcrackers are not [[bird migration|migratory]], but will erupt out of range when a cone crop failure leaves them short of a food supply, the thin-billed eastern race ''N. c. macrorhynchos'' being the most likely subspecies to do this.<ref name=Collins/> 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.<ref name="BTO"/> ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons category|Nucifraga caryocatactes|<br/>Spotted nutcracker<br/>(Nucifraga caryocatactes)}} *[http://ibc.lynxeds.com/species/spotted-nutcracker-nucifraga-caryocatactes Spotted nutcracker videos, photos & sounds] on the Internet Bird Collection {{Taxonbar |from=Q184820}} [[Category:Nucifraga|northern nutcracker]] [[Category:Birds of Eurasia]] [[Category:Birds of Russia]] [[Category:Birds described in 1758|northern nutcracker]] [[Category:Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus|northern nutcracker]]
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