Clark's Nutcracker has a specialized sublingual pouch under its tongue that carries up to 95 pine seeds at a time, and over a single fall season one bird may cache over 30,000 seeds across many square miles. It can retrieve cached seeds nine months later under several feet of snow using spatial memory — an extraordinary cognitive feat. It is critical for the regeneration of whitebark pine forests.
Best time to see a Clark's Nutcracker
The best time to see a Clark's Nutcracker is May–August, when about 64% of U.S. sightings happen, based on 8,064 research-grade iNaturalist observations.
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