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SPOTTED NUTCRACKER
  Bird Call
| Characteristics: |
32 cm long. Plumage is chocolate brown with distinct white speckles on the breast and belly. Cap and neck are all brown; sides of the face are finely spotted with white. Wings are almost black. Noteworthy are its white under tail coverts and the white bar on the tail tip. Both males and females have the same colouring. |
| Call: |
Its call, usually given in alarm, is a raucous kraak-kraak-kraak-kraak sound. Its song is a quiet jumbled sequence of chattering and twittering notes, audible only at close range. |
| Habitat: |
Mainly in the coniferous woodlands of mountains (e.g. the Alps) but found at lower elevations in Northern Europe. European populations are mainly resident, but those breeding at higher altitude descend to lower areas in the winter where living conditions are more favourable. |
| Distribution: |
The mountain ranges of Central Europe and Southern Scandinavia, North Asia and the mountain ranges of South Asia. Invasions of Spotted Nutcrackers from Siberia sometimes show up in Central Europe in the winter and occasionally reach Britain. |
| Biology: |
Eats nuts, acorns and seeds from conifers, fruits and berries. Also feeds on insects. Stores nuts and Swiss pine nuts as winter supplies; 80% success in relocating these food-stores. It builds its nest of brushwood in conifer trees. Lays between 3 and 5 eggs with a light green, light blue or whitish background and speckles of olive brown and grey. 1 brood a year from March onwards.
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