The spotted nutcracker

This bird, with its robust beak and aptitude at opening the cones of the cembro pine, feeds almost exclusively on its seeds. It alerts visitors to the forest of its presence by its gravelly and discordant cry. Ÿou may be able to see the spotted nutcracker towards the end of summer, flitting from one pine to another to extract its seeds. He then hides them in bundles in the soil which he will then find again in the winter. The spotted nutcracker is able to memorise several hundred of these hiding places and find them under the snow. The very few caches that have been forgotten will perhaps provide new small cembro pines. The cembro pines benefit greatly from this association, known as symbiosis.