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Sitta whiteheadi
– Least Concern
Taxonomy
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Kingdom:
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ANIMALIA
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Phylum:
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CHORDATA
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Class:
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AVES
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Order:
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PASSERIFORMES
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Family:
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SITTIDAE
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Scientific Name:
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Sitta whiteheadi
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Species Authority:
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Sharpe, 1884
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Common Name/s:
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| English | — | CORSICAN NUTHATCH |
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Assessment Information
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Red List Category & Criteria:
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LC ver 3.1 (2001)
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Year Assessed:
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2004
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Assessor/s:
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BirdLife International
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Evaluator/s:
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Ekstrom, J. & Butchart, S. (BirdLife International Red List Authority)
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Justification:
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Sitta whiteheadi is endemic to Corsica, France. It has a limited and fragmented breeding range which follows the distribution of Corsican pine Pinus nigra laricio in the central mountain chain. This covers ca. 450 km² from Melaja to Ospédale forests, although the actual area of pure forest is limited to ca. 210 km² (Tucker and Heath 1994). Small numbers are also found in the Castagniccia ridges and possibly in Cagna Fir forest (Thibault and Bonaccorsi 1999). Optimal habitat is old stands of Corsican pine with abundant dead and rotting trunks for nest sites, at elevations of 1,000–1,500 m. Densities vary between 0.2–3.8 pairs/10 ha, and correlate with tree height, vegetation density and dead tree distribution (Thibault and Bonaccorsi 1999). Suboptimal habitats include forests, where Corsican pine is associated with cluster pine P. pinaster, balsam fir Abies alba or beech Fagus sylvatica, and younger, exploited stands of Corsican pine at elevations of 600–1,700 m (Thibault and Bonaccorsi 1999). It is generally sedentary except for some dispersal of immature and unmated birds to lower altitudes in winter. Dispersing birds may be found in holm oak Quercus ilex and sweet chestnut Castanea sativa forests, gardens and orchards (Thibault and Bonaccorsi 1999). Factors limiting local distribution and population are forest burning and a lack of nest sites as a result of the felling of older, dead or rotten trees in commercially managed forests and occasional avalanches. However, less than a third of Corsican pine is intensively managed and forest fires are uncommon at high altitudes (Tucker and Heath 1994). It has a global population estimated to be 3,000–9,000 individuals (BirdLife International in prep.), but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population size criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., less than 10,000 mature individuals in conjunction with appropriate decline rates and subpopulation qualifiers). Global population trends have not been quantified, but populations appear to be stable (Snow and Perrins 1998) so the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e., declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
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History:
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| 1988 | - | Near-threatened (Collar and Andrew 1988) |
| 1994 | - | Lower Risk/near threatened (Collar, Crosby and Stattersfield 1994) |
| 2000 | - | Lower Risk/least concern (BirdLife International 2000) |
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Geographic Range
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Range Description:
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Sitta whiteheadi is endemic to Corsica, France. It has a limited and fragmented breeding range which follows the distribution of Corsican pine Pinus nigra laricio in the central mountain chain. This covers c.450 km² from Melaja to Ospédale forests, although the actual area of pure forest is limited to c.210 km² (Tucker and Heath 1994). Small numbers are also found in the Castagniccia ridges and possibly in Cagna Fir forest (Thibault and Bonaccorsi 1999). Optimal habitat is old stands of Corsican pine with abundant dead and rotting trunks for nest sites, at elevations of 1,000-1,500 m. Densities vary between 0.2-3.8 pairs/10 ha, and correlate with tree height, vegetation density and dead tree distribution (Thibault and Bonaccorsi 1999). Suboptimal habitats include forests, where Corsican pine is associated with cluster pine P. pinaster, balsam fir Abies alba or beech Fagus sylvatica, and younger, exploited stands of Corsican pine at elevations of 600-1,700 m (Thibault and Bonaccorsi 1999). It is generally sedentary except for some dispersal of immature and unmated birds to lower altitudes in winter. Dispersing birds may be found in holm oak Quercus ilex and sweet chestnut Castanea sativa forests, gardens and orchards (Thibault and Bonaccorsi 1999). Factors limiting local distribution and population are forest burning and a lack of nest sites as a result of the felling of older, dead or rotten trees in commercially managed forests and occasional avalanches. However, less than a third of Corsican pine is intensively managed and forest fires are uncommon at high altitudes (Tucker and Heath 1994). It has a global population estimated to be 3,000-9,000 individuals (BirdLife International in prep.), but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population size criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. less than 10,000 mature individuals in conjunction with appropriate decline rates and subpopulation qualifiers). Global population trends have not been quantified, but populations appear to be stable (Snow and Perrins 1998) so the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.
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Countries:
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Native:
France; Spain
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Habitat and Ecology
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