Spotted Nutcracker

Nutcracker ( Nucifraga caryocatactes )

The Nutcracker ( Nucifraga caryocatactes ) is a species of bird in the crow family birds ( Corvidae ). In the vernacular, it is sometimes called nut raven.

Features

With 32 to 35 centimeters in body length of the Nutcracker is as large as the Jays and has a similar wavy, rather undynamic flight; However, it seems less awkward than this. The tail of the Tannenhähers is much shorter and the head is larger than that of the jay. The Nutcracker has a wingspan between 50 and 58 centimeters and is 120 to 170 grams. The hull is dark brown and dotted with white spots, that is, each of the small spring plumage, except the head cap and the tail-coverts are white wedge strokes. This allows it to remotely look rather gray and remember the star. The sharp beak is light gray, the feathers white at the base, the head cap and upper tail-coverts are black brown. Particularly striking are the white coverts. Males and females are colored alike.

Voice

Nutcracker give rare vocalizations of itself. However, their reputation is a very typical, in the breeding season, often listening, elongated and furl the " krrrrääh ", which sounds almost machine- like and is often repeated in rapid succession. This call is longer, thinner, and higher in the course of the pitch uniform than that of the Carrion Crow. This can partly silent, be called to the jackdaw reminiscent " Jäk " or " kja ". The song is quiet gossiping, gnashing and harsh sounds that are reminiscent of the magpie.

Habitat and Distribution

Nutcracker occur mainly in coniferous forest -rich areas. Their distribution is closely linked to areas with spruce and stone pine or hazelnuts. So they come in southern Scandinavia, in southern Finland, the Baltic States and Poland prior to Siberia. In Germany they get into the low mountains and the Alps before, their distribution extends over the entire Alpine region, the Balkans and the Caucasus.

Food

In summer, the nutcracker lives mainly of insects and eats next to lizards, frogs, bird eggs and nestlings. In late summer, it also feeds on berries. In winter, it eats mainly seeds of coniferous woods. With passion he takes the seeds of the stone pine, the pine nuts, but also hazelnuts. In the fall of nutcrackers also appear in the valleys to feed on hazelnuts. They show up doing little shy. When eating a hazelnut they hold it with one foot and split it with a few blows beak. The nutlets of Zirbelkiefer crack them with the very powerful beak.

Winter supplies

In summer and autumn depots are created with Swiss pine and hazel nuts in the ground. For this, the jays chops a hole in the ground and extends it by unlocking the beak, called circles. Then he dumped a whole crop full of pine nuts ( about 100) or other tree fruits in it, eg up to 14 hazelnuts. Then the hole is then covered again. Each nutcracker puts thousands of seeds hiding as winter stock. Without looking long he finds 80 percent of these hiding places, even at high snowpack very good again. We still do not know exactly how the nutcracker the depots, which he has set up in the autumn, will again pass through the snow.

Behavior

The most striking and most easily observed are nutcrackers in the fall. When the hazelnuts are ripe, they come to the gardens to eat the nuts or carry away and be so designed as supplies for the winter. Otherwise, they are more secretly.

In hard winters, the birds migrate to warmer areas to seek food, but actually they are years birds.

Reproduction

The nests are built early in the year high in conifers near the tribe. Here are preferred spruce, selected the stone pine or other pines, larches less often. 3-4 young are reared per brood. The incubation period is 16 to 21 days, the nestling period 21 to 25 days.

System

The Nutcracker is one of three species of the Nutcracker ( Nucifraga ), the other species are widespread in western North America 's Nutcracker ( N. columbiana ) and the Himalayahäher ( Nucifraga multipunctata ).

There are eight subtypes of the Tannenhähers:

  • Nucifraga c. carycatactes Linnaeus 1758, the nominate race, occurs in Europe
  • Nucifraga c. macrorhynchos CL Brehm in 1823, comes from the Ural Mountains to the east before
  • Nucifraga c. Rothschildi Hartert 1903, occurs in the Tian Shan
  • Nucifraga c. japonicus Hartert in 1897, occurs in Japan
  • Nucifraga c. interdicta Kleinschmidt & Weigold, 1922
  • Nucifraga c. Macella Thayer & Bangs, 1909
  • Nucifraga c. hemispila Vigors, 1831, these three sub- species occur in the Himalayas
  • Nucifraga c. owstoni Ingram 1910, occurs on Taiwan
Genus Retezat National Park Temperate coniferous forest Caucasus Mountains Altricial Resident bird Christian Ludwig Brehm Ernst Hartert Outram Bangs Nicholas Aylward Vigors Collingwood Ingram
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