Krüper's Nuthatch

Taxobox
name = Krüper's Nuthatch

---

image_width = 250 px
image_caption = Adult
status = NT | status_system = IUCN3.1
status_ref = [IUCN2006|assessors=BirdLife International|year=2005|id=51968|title=Sitta krueperi|downloaded=09 May 2006 Database entry includes a justification of why this species is near threatened]
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Sittidae
genus = "Sitta"
species = "S. krueperi"
binomial = "Sitta krueperi"
binomial_authority = Pelzeln, 1863

The Krüper's Nuthatch, "Sitta krueperi", is a small nuthatch found in south east Europe and south-west Asia.

It occurs in Turkey, Georgia, Russia and on the Greek island of Lesvos.

It breeds from mid-March to late June in the "Pinus brutia" forests of Antalya, Turkey. [Frankis, M.P. 1991. Krueper's Nuthatch "Sitta krueperi" and Turkish pine "Pinus brutia": an evolving association. Sandgrouse 13: 92-97.] The 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. [Polivanov, V.M. and Polivanova, N.N. 1986. Sitta krueperi Pelz. Trudy Teberdinsk. Gos. Zapoved. 10: 115-121.] Males fluff up their feathers and assume a hunched posture when defending their territory. Fledglings are often seen hanging from branches. [Albayrak, Tamer, Ali Erdogan (2005) Observations on Some Behaviours of Krueper's Nuthatch ("Sitta krueperi"), a Little-Known West Palaearctic Bird. Turk J. Zool. 29:177-181]

The name of this bird commemorates the German naturalist Theodor Johannes Krüper.

References

External links

* [http://www.oiseaux.net/birds/photos/kruper.s.nuthatch.html Oiseaux] Photographs and text.Fiche