Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/170490
Mother Nature's little tree planter 150 Maximum number of seeds Clark's nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana), a member of the crow family, can hold in its sublingual pouch; 50-70 is more typical. The bird first rattles each seed in its beak to test for soundness. 20 Percent of its body weight a nutcracker can carry in seeds. 19 Percent of the nutcracker's annual diet made up by whitebark pine seeds. They also eat spiders and insects, as well as other seeds, berries, eggs, and carrion. 0 dispersal agents that do a better job of planting the whitebark pine, a species hard hit by the mountain pine beetle and white pine blister rust. The endangered whitebark is reliant almost solely on nutcrackers for regeneration. 4 number of months nutcrackers harvest whitebark pine seeds; hoarding only begins after August when the seeds are ripe. 33,000 Approximate number of seeds one bird can store per season—some may store up to 98,000. 2 Average depth in centimetres at which seeds are buried, usually on a south-facing slope with little snow pack. 1-15 number of seeds stored per cache; whitebark pines tend to grow in clusters as a result. 7,500 number of cache sites per bird, of which half may be recovered. An enlarged hippocampus gives the nutcracker enhanced spatial abilities. Juveniles play "cache and retrieve" games to hone their natural abilities. 9 number of months the birds can remember the site of a cache; they can also remember the size of the seeds they stored. 22 Longest recorded distance in kilometres between forage and cache site: typical distance is a few hundred metres. —Cynthia Heinrichs Radium.indd 1 13-08-23 2: SHANNA BAKEr B.C. WORD How to speak British Columbian • Clark's nutcracker is an efficient distributor of whitebark pine seeds. WAYNE lYNCH/AllCANADAPHoToS DueWest WIlDlIFe Skid row: Evolved from "skid road," a specialized route for transporting logs. Canada's first was built in Vancouver. Unemployed loggers often gathered at the road's terminus, hoping for work, and the area evolved into a seedy hub with brothels, booze, gambling, and flophouses. over time, "skid row" became a slang term for a destitute neighbourhood. B r IT ISH C o lU M B IA M AgA Z IN E • FA l l 2 0 1 3 13