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20

Western Rock Nuthatch (Sitta neumayer) Alternate name(s): "Rock Nuthatch" German name(s): "Felsenkleiber" Size: 14-15.5 cm

Europe: Family Group 20 Family Group 20 Table Bohemian Waxwing Eurasian Nuthatch Western Rock Nuthatch Thumbnails page Family group table Index of bird names European birds home page

Similar species

Description     Classification     Distribution     Sightings     Photos     Breeding     Nest     Eggs     Behaviour     Food     Call/s

Physical description Click here for a physical description The appearance of Western Rock Nuthatches varies slightly across various races. Western Rock Nuthatches have a light front (white cheeks, ear coverts, chin and chest and creamy to buff belly, vent and undertail coverts) and grey upperparts, from the forehead via the crown, mantle back and rump to uppertail, including the wings. Across the face, the two are separated by prominent black eye stripes, which is long, extending well behind the eyes, and narrow behind the eyes. They have short tails and wings and long, dark, pointed bills. The irises are dark; the legs and feet are grey. They are small, compact birds with strong legs and feet.

Taxonomy, classification See Western Rock Nuthatch at Wikipedia . Click here for classification information A nuthatch is not a treecreeper. They are more closely related to the Australasian Varied Sittella.

Range, habitat, finding this species Click here for information on habitat and range The overall distribution of this species can be assessed, and specific locations where birds have been spotted can be found, based on individual sighting reports submitted by birdwatchers to ebird.org . The global distribution of the Western Rock Nuthatch is available HERE . There are at least 3 races of Western Rock Nuthatches, which are a sedentary species throughout their range. Their distribution extends from south-eastern Europe to south-western Asia. Their breeding range includes all suitable rocky terrain from Croatia in the West to the border region of Iran and Turkmenistan in the East. In Europe Western Rock Nuthatches are present only in the South-east, along the Adriatic coastline from Croatia to Greece, with some also found farther inland, into Macedonia and southern Bulgaria. Western Rock Nuthatches have a strong preference for rocky terrain. In Europe they are found mostly near sea level, e.g. in karst, while elsewhere they are most common at altitudes between 1000 and 2500 m.

Sightings Click here for sighting information Race "tschitscherini" We have not seen a Western Rock Nuthatches, race "tschitscherini", in Europe yet. The photo shown below is of a bird found by D. Wilczynska in Georgia, on the southern slopes of the Caucasus, in June 2018.

Photos

Race "tschitscherini"

ADULT

Sex unknown

Dorsal view of an Western Rock Nuthatch clinging to a rockface; note the thinness of the eye-stripe behind the eye
(photo courtesy of D. Wilczynska)
[June 2018]

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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