[cobirds] Re: Clark’s Nutcrackers Alamosa

Nice report Dan. They have been especially visible in lower elevations and around the pinyon pine zone. See my Mtn Home reports and there have been plenty there as well. 

I live in the Valley flats, about 8 miles from the nearest pinyon tree and near Monte Vista. Yet twice last week I had small flocks of Pinyon Jays visit my backyard trees. I have a rare source of water at my place, and it has drawn all sorts of birds in. Also I have a pretty good seed crop of various trees as well. To see pinyon jays this far into the Valley means they are not finding basic needs in the foothills. We have not had significant rain forever it seems. So it may be a combination of water and food that they seek. Thanks for the report. 

John Rawinski

Monte Vista, CO

On Sunday, August 30, 2026 at 11:06:35 AM UTC-6 string...@icloud.com wrote:

Yesterday 8/29 I drove up the road to Zapata Falls in Alamosa County, looking for Pinyon Jays. Near the top, just under 9,000’ the first birds I saw were two Clark’s Nutcrackers, then three more, then two of them going at it with a Sharp-shinned Hawk…within a minute I was able to see ten in the air in a wide circle of view. At every pull-off I saw one or two more, and their raucous calls were prevalent. The Pinyon Pine cones weren’t open, mostly greenish and sap-covered, and the birds were landing tree-top, pecking them apart. The lower I drove back towards the valley floor the less I saw, but at my last stop at 8400’ I was surprised to count eleven. I hadn’t seen this concentration of Clark’s Nutcrackers before, perhaps food sources up higher are sparse. I didn’t feel like getting scolded by eBird, so I’ll just say here, my count, considering I saw some of the birds more than once, was 66.

One of the Clark’s single-note calls is similar to Pinyon Jay, a fun challenge. I did see one small flock of about 6 PIJA.

Dan Stringer
Larkspur, CO

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