Eastern Rock Nuthatch
Sitta tephronota
Large and powerful nuthatch with strong legs and a long, heavy bill. Note the bold black eye stripe that broadens behind the eye. Uses rocky, mountainous habitats, scrambling around on cliffs, ledges, and boulders. In direct comparison with Western Rock Nuthatch, Eastern is much bigger and heavier. The vibrant whistling vocalizations of the present species also average louder and deeper.
Identification
The eastern rock nuthatch (Sitta tephronota) is a species of bird in the nuthatch family Sittidae. It is found in southwest and central Asia, from eastern Turkey east through Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Iran, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, and Afghanistan, to northwestern Pakistan. Some authors have used the name Persian nuthatch for the species.
Taxonomy
Genus: Sitta; Family: Sittidae; Order: Passeriformes.
- Scientific name
- Sitta tephronota
- Authority
- Sharpe, 1872
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Sittidae
- Genus
- Sitta
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Vertical migration
Behavior
Migration pattern: Vertical migration.
Conservation
Population trend: stable.
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
Dark-billed Cuckoo
Coccyzus melacoryphus
Brownish above and buff bellow with a black bill, black bandit mask, and gray crown. The eyering is yellowish and the eyes dark. The tail is long and black with large white spots when seen from below. Found in woodlands, second growth, forest edges, plantations, riparian forests, and mangroves. The voice is a low, deep and descending “cowl-cowl-cowl.”
Dunnock
Prunella modularis
Rather drab but distinctive little bird: note slender, thrush-like bill (not stout, like superficially similar sparrows), blue-gray head sides, streaked back. Usually seen as singles or pairs, hopping on lawns or paths with distinctive shuffling gait. Found in a variety of open scrubby and wooded habitats, from low bleak heathland to parks, gardens, and farmland with hedges. Undistinguished, slightly tinny, rambling song has an even, warbled cadence; distinctive when learned. A Eurasian native, introduced to New Zealand and a few surrounding islands.
Red-billed Curassow
Crax blumenbachii
Very large terrestrial species. Males are mostly black with a curly crest and a white belly and vent. Note the red bill knob with a small wattle. Females have black-and-chestnut bars on their wings and a rufous belly. Inhabits humid primary forests with dense understory where it normally forages in pair or small family groups.
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