Abstract
The Spotted Nutcracker, Nucifraga caryocatactes , usually hoards seeds of the Japanese stone pine, Pinus pumila (as the staple food in winter). However, the Japanese stone pine is not distributed in Mt. Fuji. We conducted an investigation to find the type of seeds hoarded by the Spotted Nutcracker on the northwest slope of Mt. Fuji. We found that Spotted Nutcrackers in the upper part of the subalpine zone hoarded seeds of the Japanese white pine, P. parviflura , from the end of August to the end of November. On the northwest slope of Mt. Fuji, the Japanese white pine is scattered from the montane zone (alt.1080m) to the subalpine zone (alt.2356m). We estimated that the longest distance that Spotted Nutcrackers flew for hoarding was 10.5 km in a straight line. These results indicate that the Spotted Nutcracker of Mt. Fuji carries the seeds from low altitudes to high altitudes. This hoarding behavior is different from that of the Spotted Nutcracker of the Japanese stone pine zone.
