CLARK'S NUTCRACKER (Nucitraga coiuniDiana) 



The nutcracker is a handsome, curious bird, which seems to incorporate in 

 form or in manner the characteristics of the crow, the woodpecker, and 

 the jay. More than any other bird, this noisy, good-natured mountaineer 

 symbolizes the high country. Drawn to the hiker by its limitless curiosity, 

 the nutcracker utters its harsh, grating call as if to remind the hiker that he 

 is not alone in the wilderness. The nutcracker derives its name from the 

 fact that it is very adept at extracting pine nuts from cones. The bird 

 accomplishes this by employing its long bill in the fashion of a pick and 

 a crowbar. When pine nuts are out of season, the nutcracker varies its 

 diet with ants, beetles, grasshoppers, moths, grubs, and butterflies, which 

 are caught both on the ground and in the air. Nutcrackers are common in 

 both Yellowstone and Grand Teton. However, fluctuations in seed crops 

 can dramatically affect the population of these birds from year to year. 



Mountain Ch 



Dilley 



MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE (Parus gambeli) 



Chickadees are tame, friendly, hyperactive birds. They are constantly on 

 the move, searching among the twigs, foliage, and bark for caterpillars, 

 plant lice, and insect eggs. Even in bitterly cold weather, small flocks of 

 chickadees flit among the conifers undaunted by the weather. The moun- 

 tain chickadee, more common at higher elevations than its counterpart, 

 the black-capped chickadee, is distinguished from the latter by a narrow 

 white line which interrupts the black cap, running from the bill over and 

 behind the eye. These agile, acrobatic birds nest in cavities in rotten 

 stumps, laying 7 to 9 spotted eggs and raising as many as 2 or 3 broods 

 each summer. The Cheyenne and Blackfeet Indians, which occupied or 

 traversed much of the country in and around what has become the Yel- 

 lowstone and Grand Teton Parks, revered the chickadee and referred to it 

 as "the bird that tells us that summer is coming." 



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