#eurasian nutcracker

The nutcracker was one of the many species originally described by Linnaeus in his 18th century work, Systema Naturae, and it still bears its original name of Nucifraga caryocatactes. The scientific name is a reduplication; Nucifraga is a New Latin translation of German Nussbrecher, "nut-breaker" based on Latin nucis "nut", and frangere, "to shatter", and caryocatactes based on Greek: karuon "nut", and kataseio, "to shatter". The common English name nutcracker first appears in 1693 in a translation of a German travel guide, where it is a calque on the German name Nußknacker, as the bird was not recorded in England until 1753." There are nine recognised subspecies.

The spotted nutcracker 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 and rather long, sharply pointed, and varies in size amongst subspecies. The iris, legs and feet are black. Nutcrackers range from 12.5–15 inches in length (from tip of beak to tip of tail) and have a wingspan ranging from 19–21 inches. The voice is similar to that of the Eurasian jay and is loud and harsh. It is described as kraak-kraak-kraak-kraak.

The most important food resources for this species are the seeds (pine nuts) of various pines, principally the cold-climate species of white pine with large seeds. In some regions, where none of these pines occur, the seeds of spruce and hazel nuts form an important part of the diet too. The subspecies 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. A special adaptation is found in the tongue of the nutcracker. The tip of the tongue forks with two long pointed appendages which are keratinized into nail like surfaces. This is thought to help them handle and shell conifer seeds. 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 over large areas in the Alps of central Europe formerly cleared by man.

Various insects are also taken, and also small birds, their eggs and nestlings, small rodents and carrion such as roadkills. It digs out bumble bee and wasp nests avidly to get at the grubs.

Nutcracker couples stay together for life. 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 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.