The Corsican nuthatch is a tiny bird, nearly 5 inches long. Corsica is its only home. No other nuthatch lives on the island, and this species lives nowhere else in the world.
The back is blue-gray, and the belly is pale. The male wears a black crown. These birds are not very shy.
Mountain forests are their home. Corsican pines grow there at a few thousand feet above sea level. Pine seeds are the main food. The bird also catches small flying insects.
The nuthatch is a clever storer of food. On sunny days from late autumn to early spring, the pine cones open, and the bird hides seeds for later. On wet or cold days, the hidden seeds become a meal.
Old trees matter a great deal. The birds nest in holes in old and rotting pines. The best forests are at least 150 years old. Breeding takes place in April and May, and a pair lays five or six eggs. Pairs stay on their territory all year.
The British explorer John Whitehead found the bird on Corsica in the early 1880s. The species was new to science, and its scientific name honors him.
About 2,000 breeding pairs remain. The IUCN Red List classifies the species as Vulnerable. Logging and forest fires have cut the number of old pines. New trees grow very slowly, so young forests cannot quickly replace the lost ones. The pine forests where the nuthatch lives cover only a tiny part of the island.