A very cool bird I found (with my Merlin bird ID app from @cornellbirds) on this trip was the Clark’s nutcracker. It has a crazy relationship with whitebark pine. These pines produce cones that do not open enough for the seeds to fall out. Also, the seeds do not have wings like other pines do, so the seeds would land in the shade of their mother tree and they need open land to germinate. SO…. Enter the Clark’s nutcracker, which stuffs its pouch with over 100 seeds, flies away, and buries the seeds for future meals. These birds can precisely locate THOUSANDS of these caches and return to them whenever they need a meal. Squirrels do a similar thing with the whole cones, if they can find them, and bears then come and rob the squirrels’ reserves. All this activity results in SOME of those seeds remaining buried so the seeds can germinate! What a crazy life cycle. On the top of Mt. Howard, these birds were everywhere, looking for food at the tops of the pines. . . . #merlinapp #merlinbirdid #traveloregon #pnwonderland #oregontrees #oregonbirds #mthoward #wallowamountains #naturejournaling #naturesketch #naturesketching #naturesketchbook #travelsketch #travelsketchbook #travelsketching #birdpainting #birdpaintings #birddrawing #birddrawings #paintingbirds #drawingbirds #drawyourworld #treesofinstagram #treesoforegon #birdsofinstagram #birdsoforegon (at Mount Howard) https://www.instagram.com/p/CULMWWzP7Vx/?utm_medium=tumblr
