Western Rock Nuthatch - BirdForum Opus

Photo by john-henry
Lesvos

Alternative name: Rock Nuthatch

Sitta neumayer

Identification

13.5cm

• Dark grey upperparts
• Long strong black eyestripe
• White throat and underparts shading to buff on the belly
  

Sexes are similar
Young birds are slightly duller versions of the adults.

Distribution

Serbia east through Greece and Turkey to Iran.

Taxonomy

Subspecies^[1]

• S. n. neumayer :

• Balkan Peninsula

• S. n. syriaca:

• Western and central Turkey to Syria, Lebanon and Israel

• S. n. rupicola:

• Extreme eastern Turkey to northern Iraq and northern Iran

• S. n. tschitscherini:

• Zagros Mountains (south-western Iran)

• S. n. plumbea:

• South-central Iran (mountains of southern Kerman Province)

Habitat

Bare rocks, especially in mountainous areas.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes insects and spiders in summer, seeds and snails in winter.

Breeding

It builds a flask-shaped nest from mud, dung and hair or feathers, lined with softer materials and the entrance is sealed with mud, in a rock crevice, cave, or under an overhang on a rock face. Decorative items may be pushed into crevices and cracks near the entrance to the nest. 4-10 white, speckled with yellow, eggs are laid.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Wikipedia

External Links

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