Opportunistic foraging at American Elk, Cervus elaphus, droppings by Clark's Nutcracker, Nucifraga columbiana

In the Uinta Mountains, Utah, a Clark's Nutcracker (Nucifraga columbiana) was observed in August 1998 picking through a large pile of fresh soft droppings of American Elk (Cervus elaphus). During a five-minute period the nutcracker swallowed items recovered from the droppings 33 times, but items were too small to identify from 3-6 in distant using binoculars, Dissected droppings revealed only a few small grass and sedge seeds among undigested plant fragments. No insects were observed on or under the droppings, and the nutcracker never consumed a large quantity of the droppings, as it might have if it were seeking rare minerals or vitamins. The nutcracker pried apart some individual droppings, indicating it was searching for items contained within them, and may have been after the small, undigested seeds.