Photo: © Dennis Olsen

It is a resident bird of deciduous woods and parkland, with some old trees for nesting.
It feeds on insects, seeds and nuts. Its old name “nut-hack” derives from its habit of
wedging a nut in a crevice in a tree, and then hacking at it with its strong bill.


Foto © Kristin Vigander, Holmen 8.mai 2006

It has the ability, like other nuthatches, to climb down trees, unlike species such as woodpeckers
which can only go upwards. It will come to bird feeding tables, and is then very aggressive,
driving other species away.

The Eurasian Nuthatch is 14cm long and has the typical nuthatch big head, short tail and
powerful bill and feet. It is blue-grey above, with a black eyestripe. Asian and north European
birds (S. e. asiatica and S. e. europaea respectively) are white below except for chestnut in
the vent area. The western European S. e. caesia has generally reddish underparts.
Young birds are "washed out" versions of the adults.


Photo: © Søren Sparvath
Nests are in holes or crevices, lined with bark or grass.
The size of the hole’s entrance may be reduced by the building of a neat mud wall.
Five to eight eggs are laid, white speckled with red.
This is a noisy bird, often located by its repeated tui-tui-tui call.
Text above: http://en.wikipedia.org

Rock Nuthatch:


Rock Nuthatch (Sitta neumayer)
Delphi, Greece
© Arthur Grosset

The Rock Nuthatch is distributed in the Balkans along the Adriatic coast, in Greece, Bulgaria,
the Caucasus, Turkey and south to Israel. It is found on mountains and hills, mainly limestone,
in dry, scrubby vegetation.

In summer it feeds mainly on insects while in winter it feeds on seeds and snails.
It is very much a bird of the ground and rocks.
Compared to the Eurasian Nuthatch Sitta europaea, it has a slightly longer bill
and is a paler reddish-buff on the flanks.
Habitat and behaviour are good indicators for this species.