Northern Nutcracker

The northern nutcracker, formerly the spotted or Eurasian nutcracker, is a crow-family bird 32–38 cm long with a wingspan of 49–53 cm. It is slightly smaller than a Eurasian jay but has a much larger bill and a slimmer head with no crest. The body is predominantly chocolate brown with distinct white spots and patches, and the wings and upper tail are black with a greenish-blue gloss. The southern and Kashmir nutcrackers were formerly considered its subspecies (Wikipedia, general species account).

Where pines do not occur, spruce seeds and hazel nuts form an important part of the diet, and it also digs out bumble bee and wasp nests for the grubs and takes carrion such as roadkill. Nesting is always early across its range to make the best use of pine nuts stored the previous autumn; two to four eggs are incubated for 18 days. The cached account does not describe its range in India. SoIB 2023 rates it a Low conservation priority, a resident forest bird that eats plants and seeds, with a Moderate range of about 52,300 km² (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).