The Krüper's Nuthatch, Sitta krueperi, is a small nuthatch

Nuthatch

The nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs...

. The name commemorates the German naturalist Theodor Johannes Krüper

Theodor Johannes Krüper

Theobald Johannes Krüper, sometimes Theodor was a German ornithologist and entomologist who worked mainly in the Balkans.He was from his days as a student at the University of Berlin a friend of Otto Staudinger ....

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Distribution and habitat

It is found in south-eastern Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

 and south-western Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

 where it occurs in Turkey

Turkey

Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...

, Georgia

Georgia (country)

Georgia is a sovereign state in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Located at the crossroads of Western Asia and Eastern Europe, it is bounded to the west by the Black Sea, to the north by Russia, to the southwest by Turkey, to the south by Armenia, and to the southeast by Azerbaijan. The capital of...

, Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

, and on the Greek

Greece

Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....

 island of Lesvos

Lesbos Island

Lesbos is a Greek island located in the northeastern Aegean Sea. It has an area of with 320 kilometres of coastline, making it the third largest Greek island. It is separated from Turkey by the narrow Mytilini Strait....

. It is associated with Turkish Pine (Pinus brutia) forests.

Behaviour

The birds breed from mid March to late June in the pine forests of Antalya, Turkey. They forage in pairs and when one bird finds food, calls for the other to join. Courtship includes ritual feeding of the female by the male. They nest in decayed cavities or woodpecker holes. Only the female incubates the egg while the male feeds it. Males fluff up their feathers and assume a hunched posture when defending their territory. Fledglings are often seen hanging from branches.

External links

• Oiseaux Photographs and text.Fiche