7 May 2012

Clark’s nutcracker on Sulphur Mountain

Posted by Callan Bentley

Friday it was geese. Today, it’s a Clark’s nutcracker:

The Clark’s nutcracker is a beefy alpine corvid (perching birds related to crows) of the American west. It’s a great bird in my mind, because if you’re looking at one, it means you’re up in the high country. It means you’re out where the good stuff happens.

The bird is named for William Clark, of the Lewis & Clark Expedition. There is also a Lewis’ woodpecker named for the other leader of that initiative, Meriwether Lewis.

I spotted this one last summer on top of Sulphur Mountain in Banff National Park, Canada. I’ll be back on that mountain in July, and I’ll keep an eye out for this fellow.