Corsican nuthatch
| Corsican nuthatch | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Lithograph by J. G. Keulemans published in 1885 | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Sittidae |
| Genus: | Sitta |
| Species: | S. whiteheadi |
| Binomial name | |
|
Sitta whiteheadi Sharpe, 1884 |
|
The Corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi) is a small passerine bird that is endemic to Corsica, where it is the only nuthatch. It is restricted to mature stands of Corsican pine (Pinus nigra spp. laricio) which grow at altitudes of from 800 to 1,600 m (2,600 to 5,200 ft).
The nuthatches are a genus (sitta) of passerine birds with short tails and wings, compact bodies and longish pointed bills. They have grey or bluish upperparts, a black eyestripe and strong feet. Their tails have 12 feathers (rectrices) and their wings have ten primary flight feathers. In 2015 the International Ornithological Committee listed 28 different species.
The Corsican nuthatch was discovered by the English collector John Whitehead in June 1883 when he shot a specimen while on a trip in the Corsican mountains. When he showed the skin to Bowdler Sharpe who was the curator of the bird collection at the British Museum, Sharpe recognised that the bird represented an undocumented species and published a short description. Whitehead returned to Corsica in May 1884 to collect additional specimens and discovered that the species was sexually dimorphic in colour; the bird he had shot the previous year had been a male bird. Sharpe used the additional specimens gathered by Whitehead to publish a fuller description of the species.
Within the genus the Corsican nuthatch belongs to the canadensis group which also includes the red-breasted nuthatch (S. canadensis), the Chinese nuthatch (S. villosa), Krüper's nuthatch (S. krueperi) and the Algerian nuthatch (S. ledanti). These six species usually excavate their own nests and all except the Algerian nuthatch specialize in extracting seeds from pine cones. All members of the group also exhibit sexually dimorphism in the colour of their head feathers. Analysis of ribosomal and DNA indicated that the Corsican nuthatch is most closely related to the Chinese nuthatch and that they diverged from a common ancestor around 0.96 million years ago. The large distance separating the ranges of the two sister species is very unusual for Palaearctic passerines. The Yunnan nuthatch is a sister species to the canadensis group and has many common features.
...
Wikipedia