CreatureData

Corsican nuthatch

Sitta whiteheadi Sharpe, 1884

VUVulnerablesongbirds

The corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi) is a species in the family Sittidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh about 11.8 g. Its IUCN Red List status is Vulnerable.

Corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi)
Photo: Christoph Moning (iNaturalist user christoph_moning) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the corsican nuthatch

Weight
11.8 gsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
Not recorded
Diet
Omnivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
forestsrc for Habitat
Young per litter or clutch
5.5 – 5.75src for Young per litter or clutch
Lifestyle
Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
Migration
Sedentarysrc for Migration
Conservation status
Vulnerable (IUCN)src for Conservation status
Countries on record
Not recorded

Photos of the corsican nuthatch

Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.

Corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi)
Àlex Milian · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Where does the corsican nuthatch live?

Not recorded

What is the corsican nuthatch?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The Corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi) is a species of bird in the nuthatch family Sittidae. It is a relatively small nuthatch, measuring about 12 cm (4.7 in) in overall length. The upperparts are bluish-grey, the underparts greyish-white. The male is distinguished from the female by its entirely black crown. The species is sedentary, territorial and not very shy. It often feeds high in Corsican pines (Pinus nigra var. corsicana, syn. P. nigra subsp. laricio), consuming mainly pine seeds, but also catching some flying insects. The breeding season takes place between April and May; the nest is placed in the trunk of an old pine, and the clutch has five to six eggs. The young fledge 22 to 24 days after hatching.

The Corsican nuthatch is found only on the island of Corsica, where it populates the old forests of high-altitude Corsican pines, descending lower in winter. Its scientific name comes from John Whitehead, the ornithologist who brought the bird to the attention of the scientific community in 1883. The Corsican nuthatch is closely related to the Chinese nuthatch (S. villosa) and the red-breasted nuthatch (S. canadensis). It is threatened by loss of nesting sites and habitat fragmentation, with an estimated population size of about 2,000 individuals, possibly in moderate decline. Due to the small population size and the limited range, the conservation status of the Corsican nuthatch is classed as "vulnerable" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

From the Wikipedia article “Corsican nuthatch” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Corsican_nuthatch&oldid=1369679374), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.

Is the corsican nuthatch endangered?

The corsican nuthatch is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List: it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Vulnerable species. What the categories mean.

How is the corsican nuthatch classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classAves
  4. orderPasseriformes
  5. familySittidae
  6. genusSitta
  7. SpeciesSitta whiteheadi Sharpe, 1884
Other names and names in other languages (47)
  • كاسر الجوز الكورسيكيArabic
  • Корсиканска зидаркаBulgarian
  • Pokerig-KorsikaBreton
  • Pica-soques corsCatalan
  • pica-soques de CòrsegaCatalan
  • ZittulaCorsican
  • brhlík korsickýCzech
  • delor cnau CorsicaWelsh
  • Korsikansk SpætmejseDanish
  • KorsenkleiberGerman
  • Korsen-KleiberGerman
  • korsika sitoEsperanto
  • Trepador corsoSpanish
  • korsika puukoristajaEstonian
  • Korsikar garrapoBasque
  • کمرکولی وایتهدPersian
  • korsikannakkeliFinnish
  • Sittelle corseFrench
  • Cnóshnag corsacachIrish
  • Scoltan CorsickaghManx
  • סיטת קורסיקהHebrew
  • korzički brgljezCroatian
  • korzikai csuszkaHungarian
  • TaumigðaIcelandic
  • Picchio muratore corsoItalian
  • コルシカゴジュウカラJapanese
  • korsikinis bukutisLithuanian
  • Korsikas dzilnītisLatvian
  • Corsicaanse BoomkleverDutch
  • korsikaspettmeisNorwegian
  • kowalik korsykanskiPolish
  • kowalik korsykańskiPolish
  • trepadeira-corsaPortuguese
  • Trepadeira-azul-da-córsegaPortuguese
  • trepadeira-da-córsegaPortuguese
  • Корсиканский поползеньRussian
  • KorsikačáihnegaccetNorthern Sami
  • brhlík korzickýSlovak
  • korziški brglezSlovenian
  • Korzikanski brgljezSerbian
  • korsikansk nötväckaSwedish
  • Korsika SıvacısıTurkish
  • Korsika sıvacı kuşuTurkish
  • повзик корсиканськийUkrainian
  • Trèo cây CorseVietnamese
  • 白頭鳾Chinese
  • 科西嘉䴓Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataIUCN Red List

Relatives of the corsican nuthatch

Other species in the same genus Sitta.

CompareCorsican nuthatch vs Eurasian nuthatchCorsican nuthatch vs Western rock nuthatchCorsican nuthatch vs Velvet-fronted nuthatchCorsican nuthatch vs Eastern rock nuthatch

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the corsican nuthatch?

An adult corsican nuthatch weighs 11.8 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the corsican nuthatch endangered?

The corsican nuthatch is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a high risk of extinction in the wild.

What kind of animal is the corsican nuthatch?

The corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi) belongs to the family Sittidae in the order Passeriformes.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/corsican-nuthatch

MLA

“Corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/corsican-nuthatch.

BibTeX
@misc{corsican_nuthatch_2026,
  title = {Corsican nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/corsican-nuthatch},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}