Behind the Lens

a blog every Friday on a specific species of animal or bird and stories of photos

Search for a specific species, genre or even a location or use the directory for a complete list of species I have photographed and written about till date.

Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee

Giant Nuthatch

The critically endangered giant nuthatch is the largest species in the genus at 19.5 cms, and is largely grey in colour except for a faintly rufous underpart in the female, whose eyestripe is also duller than the male. The bill is much bulkier than other Sitta. They are found in the mountains of southwestern China and northern Thailand, and may be extinct in Myanmar.

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Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee

Chestnut-vented Nuthatch

The chestnut-vented nuthatch is a species of the nuthatch family found in south-eastern Asia from Tibet to southern Indochina. Its natural habitats are temperate forests, subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

A typical nuthatch usually seen clambering around on trees, it is gray above & white below, with a wedge-shaped head & a thin black line extending from the bill base to the shoulder. Its deep rust red on the flanks & red-edged scaling under the tail serve to distinguish this otherwise plain species from similar nuthatches. Active and social and often following mixed flocks it inhabits both broadleaf and coniferous forests in foothill and submontane areas. Listen for its song, a loud ringing series of trills. Calls include nasal caws, a bright-sounding “pewpewpew,” and high-pitched chittering.

Read More: https://wildart.works/behindthelens/chestnut-vented-nuthatch

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Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee Wildlife, Bird Photography Siddhartha Mukherjee

Eurasian/ Wood Nuthatch

The Eurasian nuthatch or wood nuthatch (Sitta europaea) is a small passerine bird found throughout the Palearctic and in Europe, where its name is the nuthatch. Like other nuthatches, it is a short-tailed bird with a long bill, blue-grey upperparts and a black eye-stripe. It is a vocal bird with a repeated loud dwip call. There are more than 20 subspecies in three main groups; birds in the west of the range have orange-buff underparts and a white throat, those in Russia have whitish underparts, and those in the east have a similar appearance to European birds, but lack the white throat.

The preferred habitat is mature deciduous or mixed woodland with large, old trees, preferably oak. Pairs hold permanent territories, and nest in tree holes, usually old woodpecker nests, but sometimes natural cavities. If the entrance to the hole is too large, the female plasters it with mud to reduce its size, and often coats the inside of the cavity too. The 6–9 red-speckled white eggs are laid on a deep base of pine or other wood chips.

The Eurasian nuthatch eats mainly insects, particularly caterpillars and beetles, although in autumn and winter its diet is supplemented with nuts and seeds. The young are fed mainly on insects, with some seeds, food items mainly being found on tree trunks and large branches. The nuthatch can forage when descending trees head first, as well as when climbing. It readily visits bird tables, eating fatty man-made food items as well as seeds. It is an inveterate hoarder, storing food year-round. Its main natural predator is the Eurasian sparrowhawk.

Fragmentation of woodland can lead to local losses of breeding birds, but the species' range is still expanding. It has a large population and huge breeding area, and is therefore classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being of least concern.

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