Extreme eastern Greece (Lesbos), Turkey (except most of central and east), extreme south-western Russia (Krasnodar region and northern watershed of north-western Caucasus) and southern Georgia (foothills of Kuzey Anadolu Mts).
Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.
Population
Estimated population is 240,000 - 510,000 (2010) and decreasing.
Kr\u00fcper's Nuthatch (Sitta) [XC187390]
by Cedric Mroczko from \u00c7aml\u0131hem\u015fin, Rize Province, Turkey (song)
Kr\u00fcper's Nuthatch (Sitta krueperi) [XC661580]
by Oscar Campbell from Lesbos, North Aegean Region, Decentralized Administration of the Aegean, Greece (call, drumming)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
A member of a species group that contains also Corsican Nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi), Algerian Nuthatch (Sitta ledanti), Snowy-browed Nuthatch (Sitta villosa), Yunnan Nuthatch (Sitta yunnanensis) and Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis), and all sometimes thought to form a superspecies. Has sometimes been treated as conspecific with Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis), at least, but differs from that and all others of group in having rufous breast patch (significant in courtship and territorial display) and relatively large difference between adults and juveniles. Recent evidence from mitochondrial DNA suggests that its closest relative is Algerian Nuthatch (Sitta ledanti), with more distant relationship to Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis), Corsican Nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi) and Snowy-browed Nuthatch (Sitta villosa) (no Yunnan Nuthatch (Sitta yunnanensis) material was available for analysis).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet