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After an insane amount of logistics and setbacks in the field, the Audubon article on my research is out! https://www.audubon.org/news/stands-whitebark-pine-disappear-could-clarks-nutcracker-soon-follow. Enjoy!
I'm thrilled to have been able to contribute to this great article in The Narwhal: https://thenarwhal.ca/whitebark-pine-endangered-species/
Here's the informal, but, in my opinion, fantastic documentary Chris Snyder made while working on our nutcracker ARU project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EhG9zxJgKo.
It was a joy to talk with Amy Grisak while she was writing a brief article for Birds&Blooms. See www.birdsandblooms.com/birding/bird-species/clarks-nutcracker/ for her article, How to Attract and Identify a Clark’s Nutcracker.
Chris Snyder has been working with Alison Scoville to collect all the habitat data at our permanent Cascades sites, where we are collecting audio data with ARU's daily all year long. He's been taking fantastic photos along the way and is working on a nutcracker documentary right now. September 2023
Two of our monitors burned in the 2021 Washington fires, but we just pulled data off this crispy critter! (Photo credit: Alison Scoville)
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Eugene Beckes, Montana, just sent me some incredible photos of nutcrackers mating!
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Call for Clark's Nutcracker Nest Sightings
I'm seeking help in locating Clark’s Nutcracker nests for my Nutcracker Ecosystem Project and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Clark's Nutcracker/Whitebark Pine Ecosystem initiative. Nest sightings will assist studies of the role of Clark’s Nutcrackers in conifer ecosystems, the effects of climate change on the birds and coniferous forests, and educational efforts to elevate awareness.
Very few nutcracker nests have ever been documented, so any and all new nest information is wonderfully helpful. Nests are made of twigs/sticks and are ~8-12” wide, ~4-9” high, and 8-60’ off the ground, primarily in conifers. Nests can be found in live or dead trees, and dense or open stands of trees. Nest building tends to begin in late-February/early-March (but may be earlier or later depending on the location and year) and is the most easily observable sign of nesting. Nestlings should all have fledged by mid-June.
If you spot Clark’s Nutcrackers nesting, please send GPS point and/or other location information, such as tree species and height of nest in the tree, as well as nest status (building, eggs, nestlings), date located, and any other details to tazaschaming@gmail.com. I would also love to hear observations of juveniles. Please let me know if you have any questions!
I'm seeking help in locating Clark’s Nutcracker nests for my Nutcracker Ecosystem Project and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology Clark's Nutcracker/Whitebark Pine Ecosystem initiative. Nest sightings will assist studies of the role of Clark’s Nutcrackers in conifer ecosystems, the effects of climate change on the birds and coniferous forests, and educational efforts to elevate awareness.
Very few nutcracker nests have ever been documented, so any and all new nest information is wonderfully helpful. Nests are made of twigs/sticks and are ~8-12” wide, ~4-9” high, and 8-60’ off the ground, primarily in conifers. Nests can be found in live or dead trees, and dense or open stands of trees. Nest building tends to begin in late-February/early-March (but may be earlier or later depending on the location and year) and is the most easily observable sign of nesting. Nestlings should all have fledged by mid-June.
If you spot Clark’s Nutcrackers nesting, please send GPS point and/or other location information, such as tree species and height of nest in the tree, as well as nest status (building, eggs, nestlings), date located, and any other details to tazaschaming@gmail.com. I would also love to hear observations of juveniles. Please let me know if you have any questions!
These nests are hard to see! If you see nutcrackers carrying around twigs, they're likely building a nest nearby.
Photos: Taza Schaming
Thanks to Wildlife Acoustics for awarding us three copies of Kaleidoscope Pro for our nutcracker acoustic monitoring project! We have 906 days of audio data from whitebark pine habitat in the Cascades, and are on a mission to develop an automatic detection algorithm for nutcracker calls.
I'm thrilled to share the newest publication! I'm honored to have been part of this work.
Ray C, Rochefort RM, Ransom JI, Nesmith JCB, Haultain SA, Schaming TD, Boetsch JR, Holmgren ML, Wilkerson RL, and Siegel RB. (2020) Assessing trends and vulnerabilities in the mutualism between whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and Clark’s nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) in national parks of the Sierra-Cascade region. PLoS ONE 15(10): e0227161. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227161
Watch Chris Ray's 10 min presentation on the research at: birdpop.org/pages/blogPost.php?id=57!
Ray C, Rochefort RM, Ransom JI, Nesmith JCB, Haultain SA, Schaming TD, Boetsch JR, Holmgren ML, Wilkerson RL, and Siegel RB. (2020) Assessing trends and vulnerabilities in the mutualism between whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) and Clark’s nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) in national parks of the Sierra-Cascade region. PLoS ONE 15(10): e0227161. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0227161
Watch Chris Ray's 10 min presentation on the research at: birdpop.org/pages/blogPost.php?id=57!
New publication just out!
Landscape- and local-scale habitat influences on occurrence and detection probability of Clark’s nutcrackers: Implications for conservation, based on five years of occupancy surveys is now published. Thank you to Chris Sutherland for being such a pleasure to work with on this. See at doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233726.
Landscape- and local-scale habitat influences on occurrence and detection probability of Clark’s nutcrackers: Implications for conservation, based on five years of occupancy surveys is now published. Thank you to Chris Sutherland for being such a pleasure to work with on this. See at doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0233726.
Now, on to the next paper...
Thanks to the Washington Chapter of The Wildlife Society for awarding their Research Grant to the Clark's nutcracker satellite-tracking project!
Call for Clark’s Nutcracker Nest Sightings!
The Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are seeking help in locating Clark’s Nutcracker nests for Research Associate Dr. Taza Schaming’s Nutcracker Ecosystem Project.
Nest sightings will assist studies of the role of Clark’s Nutcrackers in conifer ecosystems, the effects of climate change on the birds and coniferous forests, and educational efforts to elevate awareness.
Very few nutcracker nests have been documented beyond work by Schaming, Dr. Teresa Lorenz, and a few much older studies. Nests are made of twigs/sticks and are ~8-12” wide, ~4-9” high, and 8-60’ off the ground, primarily in conifers. Nests can be found in live or dead trees, and dense or open stands of trees. Nest building begins in early March and is the most easily observable sign of nesting. Nestlings fledge by mid-June.
If you spot Clark’s Nutcrackers nesting, please send GPS point and/or other location information, such as tree species and height of nest in the tree, to tazaschaming@gmail.com.
*UPDATE: Although the nesting season is almost over this year, please contact me if you find any nutcracker nests in 2021! Thank you.
The Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are seeking help in locating Clark’s Nutcracker nests for Research Associate Dr. Taza Schaming’s Nutcracker Ecosystem Project.
Nest sightings will assist studies of the role of Clark’s Nutcrackers in conifer ecosystems, the effects of climate change on the birds and coniferous forests, and educational efforts to elevate awareness.
Very few nutcracker nests have been documented beyond work by Schaming, Dr. Teresa Lorenz, and a few much older studies. Nests are made of twigs/sticks and are ~8-12” wide, ~4-9” high, and 8-60’ off the ground, primarily in conifers. Nests can be found in live or dead trees, and dense or open stands of trees. Nest building begins in early March and is the most easily observable sign of nesting. Nestlings fledge by mid-June.
If you spot Clark’s Nutcrackers nesting, please send GPS point and/or other location information, such as tree species and height of nest in the tree, to tazaschaming@gmail.com.
*UPDATE: Although the nesting season is almost over this year, please contact me if you find any nutcracker nests in 2021! Thank you.
Update: we arrived in Yellowstone as planned, but headed home early when Yellowstone shut down due to COVID-19. We'll be back to the field spring 2021!
I'm looking forward to working with collaborators Diana Tomback, Thomas McLaren, Lauren Walker, and Doug Smith on a new Clark's nutcracker satellite-tagging effort in Yellowstone National Park. We'll be fitting four GeoTrak transmitters to the birds this month! The research is funded by the Ricketts Conservation Foundation, see https://www.rickettsconservation.org/project/the-clarks-nutcracker-project/.
I'm looking forward to working with collaborators Diana Tomback, Thomas McLaren, Lauren Walker, and Doug Smith on a new Clark's nutcracker satellite-tagging effort in Yellowstone National Park. We'll be fitting four GeoTrak transmitters to the birds this month! The research is funded by the Ricketts Conservation Foundation, see https://www.rickettsconservation.org/project/the-clarks-nutcracker-project/.
February 4, 2020
I just submitted our Clark's nutcracker occupancy survey paper revision! Results from 3,135 surveys one step closer to being in the literature.
I just submitted our Clark's nutcracker occupancy survey paper revision! Results from 3,135 surveys one step closer to being in the literature.
January 31, 2020
We just received a small conservation grant from the Washington Chapter of The Wildlife Society for a student-led Clark's nutcracker acoustic monitoring project we're beginning this year. This is a collaboration with Alison Scoville (Central Washington University), Teresa Lorenz (USFS), Peter Singleton (USFS), and Anya Tyson (The Nature Conservancy). This project will expand Anya's nutcracker citizen science monitoring project that she developed and implemented for her MS at the University of Vermont.
If anyone has an acoustic monitor (Wildlife Acoustics, Cornell's Swift, etc.) that we could borrow for the pilot project, please let me know. On to the next step!
We just received a small conservation grant from the Washington Chapter of The Wildlife Society for a student-led Clark's nutcracker acoustic monitoring project we're beginning this year. This is a collaboration with Alison Scoville (Central Washington University), Teresa Lorenz (USFS), Peter Singleton (USFS), and Anya Tyson (The Nature Conservancy). This project will expand Anya's nutcracker citizen science monitoring project that she developed and implemented for her MS at the University of Vermont.
If anyone has an acoustic monitor (Wildlife Acoustics, Cornell's Swift, etc.) that we could borrow for the pilot project, please let me know. On to the next step!
October 30, 2019 update
There has been lots of great momentum with the nutcracker research: collaborators are sprinting toward submitting our manuscript next month in which we analyzed long-term nutcracker surveys (from BBS routes) and long-term whitebark pine surveys in four national parks, including Mount Rainier and North Cascades; we're writing grants to attempt to fund more satellite-transmitters and hopefully a pilot season of citizen science nutcracker surveys and cone counts in Washington; we're pulling together the new Yellowstone satellite-tracking project, on which I'm a co-PI, to begin in March 2020, using the new Icarus satellite technology; April fieldwork in Washington's Cascades is on the calendar; plus I'm slowly working on analyzing my satellite data.
Oh, and my four-year-old daughter's choice for our pumpkin this year: a Clark's nutcracker!
There has been lots of great momentum with the nutcracker research: collaborators are sprinting toward submitting our manuscript next month in which we analyzed long-term nutcracker surveys (from BBS routes) and long-term whitebark pine surveys in four national parks, including Mount Rainier and North Cascades; we're writing grants to attempt to fund more satellite-transmitters and hopefully a pilot season of citizen science nutcracker surveys and cone counts in Washington; we're pulling together the new Yellowstone satellite-tracking project, on which I'm a co-PI, to begin in March 2020, using the new Icarus satellite technology; April fieldwork in Washington's Cascades is on the calendar; plus I'm slowly working on analyzing my satellite data.
Oh, and my four-year-old daughter's choice for our pumpkin this year: a Clark's nutcracker!
Step into the world of Cliff Crego's compilation of whitebark pine focused music, art, and talks:
http://picture-poems.com/whitebarks/
This is a link to Jesse Logan's story-map of our Voices of Yellowstone's Capstone: A Narrative Atlas of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness. http://bit.ly/2ZVS6P6
Here are the Atlas book launch events so far. Please come join us!
Here are the Atlas book launch events so far. Please come join us!
- Red Lodge: Honey's - 11/14 6 p.m., with authors John Clayton and Marci Dye
- Billings: This House of Books - 11/16 5:30 p.m., with authors Ed Kemmick and April Craighead (invited)
- Bozeman: Lindley Center - 11/20 6 p.m., with authors Doug Chabot, Shane Doyle, and Gary Ferguson
- Livingston: Elk River Books - 11/21 7 p.m., with authors Todd Burritt, Scott McMillion, and Dan Tyers
The Atlas of the Absaroka-Bearooth Wilderness has gone out for printing and binding! You can now pre-order it with shipping expected mid-November, at https://abatlas.org/pre-order.
Thanks to the USFS we'll be fitting two more satellite-transmitters to Clark's nutcrackers in the Cascades spring 2020! So much to learn.
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Home Ranges
Home range analyses are coming along! The mean 95% fixed kernel annual home range for the seven satellite-tagged Washington birds is 18,412 ± 3,055 ha. That's huge! Here's a map of all the high accuracy points in the first year of tracking these nutcrackers. |
NOLS 2018 Citizen Science data
I am thrilled to learn that in 2018, NOLS citizen scientists have continued to collect data for The Clark's Nutcracker Project! Anya Tyson, a collaborator and friend of mine, launched, then spearheaded the project for her Master's research, working very closely with NOLS on the project in 2016 & 2017. But, in 2018, Anya was hard at work in her new position as a Timber Project Manager with Adventure Scientists. So, NOLS continued the nutcracker citizen science data collection 100% on their own. It is tricky to make citizen scientists projects self-sustaining, so this is a huge success!
I am thrilled to learn that in 2018, NOLS citizen scientists have continued to collect data for The Clark's Nutcracker Project! Anya Tyson, a collaborator and friend of mine, launched, then spearheaded the project for her Master's research, working very closely with NOLS on the project in 2016 & 2017. But, in 2018, Anya was hard at work in her new position as a Timber Project Manager with Adventure Scientists. So, NOLS continued the nutcracker citizen science data collection 100% on their own. It is tricky to make citizen scientists projects self-sustaining, so this is a huge success!
Atlas of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness
The Atlas of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness has added an excerpt from my nutcracker piece, as well as
a map of the Wyoming satellite-tagged Clark's nutcrackers long distance movements.
The Atlas of the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness has added an excerpt from my nutcracker piece, as well as
a map of the Wyoming satellite-tagged Clark's nutcrackers long distance movements.
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IN THE CLASSROOM
October 2018. I just finished teaching the second of a three-session education program I developed at Bethlehem Children's School in Slingerlands, NY. The program is focused on ornithology and ecology, and included a question answer session about my Clark's nutcracker research, habitat mapping, and practicing radio-tracking in the school yard. |
Fires in Washington!
There have been wildfires in the Winthrop, WA area, where I trapped the Washington nutcrackers, starting in early August. There is LOTS of smoke and poor air quality. As of August 17, 2018, the Crescent Mountain Fire has burned 17,924 acres, and is only 37% contained.
There have been wildfires in the Winthrop, WA area, where I trapped the Washington nutcrackers, starting in early August. There is LOTS of smoke and poor air quality. As of August 17, 2018, the Crescent Mountain Fire has burned 17,924 acres, and is only 37% contained.
Between August 1 and 17 (today), the satellite-tagged Clark's nutcrackers have been moving pretty close to the fires.
At the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution Meeting in Guelph, Ontario, I presented on the The Nutcracker Ecosystem Project, including the first preliminary results from the Washington satellite-tracking.
IN THE CLASSROOM
In spring 2018, I developed and taught a three-session education program focused on ornithology and ecology for preschoolers to fourth graders at Country Classroom in Middleburgh, NY. As part of the program, I highlighted my research on Clark's nutcrackers.
