Western Rock Nuthatch
Sitta neumayer Michahelles, 1830
Order Passeriformes
Family Sittidae
Sitta syriaca Ehrenb.: Reiser, 1894: 62; Sitta neumayeri Michahelles., Patev (1950): 72.
Conservation status: in Bulgaria: Vulnerable VU [B1a; C2a(i)], BDA-III; International: ECS-spec 4.
General distribution. A Mediterranean species whose breeding area embraces Southeastern Europe, Turkey, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Caucasus [13].
Distribution and abundance in Bulgaria. Resident. In the past it was found in the mountains in the Rhodopes and in Southwestern Bulgaria [10]; in the mountains Rila, at altitudes of about 2 200 m, and Pirin, at altitudes of about 2 000 m, and in Kresna Gorge [7]; around the Struma River near the Rupite locality [5]; in the southern parts of Kresna Gorge [1]; near Krupnik railway station [12]; in the low parts of the mountains Ograzhden, Maleshevska Planina, Pirin and Rhodopes [3]. The present distribution includes rocky terrains in the Eastern Rhodopes [11]; the Western Rhodopes – more frequently in the low parts of Dabrash [14]; in the Trigrad-Yagodinski region [4, 14]; the Karadzhov Kamak locality [10], etc. In Southwestern Bulgaria it is found along the valley of the Struma: near the Rupite locality, Kresna Gorge, etc., in the north reaching Zemenski Gorge; along the Mesta – under the village of Eleshnitsa, the Momina Klisura pass, etc. It also breeds in the low parts of the mountains Pirin, Western Rila, Ograzhden, Maleshevska and Vlahina [14]. The numbers are about 600 pairs [6].
Habitats. Open rocky regions in the southern parts of the country, it prefers terrains with lower altitudes.
Biology. It multiplies on vertical rocks: from 2-3 m to a height of several tens of meters. The nests are in holes, cracks, etc.; rarely in the walls of buildings [15]. In front, the nesting chamber is closed with a barrier of stuck mud and small stones in which there is a round entrance opening. In April it lays 6-13 white eggs with rusty brown spots [3]. The young ones hatch after 15-18 days and stay in the nest for about 28 days. Yearly, it has 1-2 clutches [2]. It feeds on insects; in the autumn and the winter on seeds and fruits.
Similar species. The European Nuthatch (Sitta europea).
Negative factors. Disturbance by man; destruction of the breeding places in extraction and building activities; gathering eggs by collectors.
Conservation measures taken. Protected according to the Biological Diversity Act. Some of the breeding places are within protected natural territories.
Conservation measures needed. Creation of new and expansion of the existing Protected Territories: around the villages of Ilindentsi and Ploski, around the Rupite locality, along the valley of the Mesta River, etc.
References. 1. Vatev, Simeonov 1978; 2. Ilichev, Miheev (eds.) 1986; 3. Michev, Raykov, 1980; 4. Nankinov, 1982; 5. Nankinov et al., 1979; 6. Nankinov et al. 2004; 7. Paspaleva-Antonova, 1965; 8. Patev, 1950; 9. Petrov, 1988; 10. Peshev, Boev 1962; 11. Iankov, Nyagolov, 1987; 12. Donchev, 1981; 13. Howard, Moore 1980; 14. Stoyanov, 2004; 15. Yankov, 1997.
Authors: Georgi P. Stoyanov, Iliya Vatev, Bozhidar Ivanov, Tseno Petrov, Svetoslav Spasov
