About the Corsican Nuthatch
The Corsican nuthatch is a species of bird in the nuthatch family Sittidae. It is a relatively small nuthatch, measuring about 12 cm (4.7 in) in overall length. The upperparts are bluish-grey, the underparts greyish-white. The male is distinguished from the female by its entirely black crown. The species is sedentary, territorial and not very shy. It often feeds high in Corsican pines, consuming mainly pine seeds, but also catching some flying insects. The breeding season takes place between April and May; the nest is placed in the trunk of an old pine, and the clutch has five to six eggs. The young fledge 22 to 24 days after hatching.
Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
ID tip
The Corsican nuthatch is the only nuthatch found in Corsica, however, it may be reminiscent of the coal tit (Periparus ater), which is common in Corsican forests and has similar markings on its head. The Eurasian nuthatch which inhabits nearby mainland France is larger, has no black on the crown and has yellow (or white for some subspecies) underparts tending to orange around the rump. Voice: The contact call is a light, whistling pu, which the bird repeats in series of five to six notes, in pupupupu. When agitated, this nuthatch emits a "rough and stretched, slowly repeated" pchèèhr, as might a common starling (Sturnus vulgaris), or a psch-psch-psch that turns into a chay-chay-chay or sch-wer, sch-wer when more agitated.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What the Corsican Nuthatch sounds like
Where it lives
When to see it
Peak activity in May · a summer visitor species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Blue NuthatchSitta azureaThe blue nuthatch is a medium-sized nuthatch that has an average length of 13.5 cm (5.3 in).
Chinese NuthatchSitta villosaThis species is locally found in sympatry with the Eurasian nuthatch (S. europaea), but differs from it in its smaller size, clearly visible white supercilium, black crown in males, and relatively plain underparts, lacking the reddish undertail coverts and flanks.
Eastern Rock NuthatchSitta tephronotaEastern rock nuthatch is 15–16 cm long.
Learn the Corsican Nuthatch for real
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