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Whether it’s the high-pitched squawk of a dramatically gray, black and white Clark’s nutcracker at Mammoth Lakes, or the fairy tale music of a Swainson’s thrush singing from your garden bird feeder, these sounds are as varied as human voices — and there’s a charm to studying them on your own.

They are considered a “keystone” species other plants and animals depend on for survival, and their edible seeds are spread almost exclusively by a bird, the Clark’s nutcracker.

The Clark’s nutcracker, I surmised after observing one in an Aspen tree last winter furiously pecking at a seed, is a determined bird.

At Brush Creek near Snowmass, we spotted the Clark’s nutcracker along with three kinds of jays — the Steller’s, Woodhouse’s scrub-jay and the pinyon — and large flocks of chatty, yellow-streaked pine siskins.

The Park is currently further researching its Clark’s nutcracker population.