The southern nutcracker (Nucifraga hemispila) is a passerine bird in the crow family Corvidae. It was formerly considered to be conspecific with the northern nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes) and the Kashmir nutcracker (Nucifraga multipunctata) under the English name "spotted nutcracker".
| Southern nutcracker | |
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| Nucifraga hemispila hemispila in western Nepal | |
Scientific classification 
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| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Order: | Passeriformes |
| Family: | Corvidae |
| Genus: | Nucifraga |
| Species: | N. hemispila
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| Binomial name | |
| Nucifraga hemispila Vigors, 1831
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| Synonyms | |
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Nucifraga caryocatactes hemispila | |
Taxonomy
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The southern nutcracker was formally described in 1831 by the Irish zoologist Nicholas Vigors under the binomial name Nucifraga hemispila.[2] He specified the type locality as just "the Himalayas"; however, research into Vigors' travels has been able to restrict the locality to the Shimla and Almora districts of northern India.[3][4] The genus name Nucifraga is the Latin name given to the northern nutcracker by the English naturalist William Turner in 1544, as a translation of the German name Nussbrecher meaning "nut-breaker".[5] The specific epithet hemispila combines the Ancient Greek ἡμι-/hēmi- meaning "half-" or "small" with σπιλος/spilos meaning "stain" or "spot".[6] The southern nutcracker was formerly considered to be conspecific with the spotted nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes), that now renamed in its revised narrower ciscumscription as northern nutcracker. It is here treated as a separate species based on differences in morphology and vocalisation, as well molecular genetic analysis.[7][8]
Four subspecies are accepted:[8]
Description
editThe southern nutcracker is similar in size to the northern nutcracker, about 33 cm long. It is largely brown, with limited white spotting on the face and upper breast, plain brown lower breast and back, unmarked black wings, and white lower belly and under-tail coverts; for comparison, both the northern nutcracker and the kashmir nutcracker have extensive and larger white spots on the entire breast and back. The tail is black with white outer corners. The bill is stout and black, the legs also black.[9]
Ecology and behaviour
editIt occurs primarily in pine forests, with particular preference for Chinese white pine (Pinus armandii), blue pine (Pinus wallichiana), and other related white pines in Pinus subgenus Strobus, the seeds of which it caches and distributes in a manner similar to other nutcrackers; it will also use other conifers such as spruce in the event of cone crop failure in its preferred species.[10]
References
edit- ^ BirdLife International (2016). "Nucifraga hemispila". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2016: e.T103727443A104100871. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103727443A104100871.en. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Vigors, Nicholas Aylward (1831). "Nucifraga hemispila". Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London. 1 (18): 8.
- ^ Ticehurst, Claud B.; Whistler, Hugh (1924). "On the type-locality of certain birds described by Vigors". Ibis. 66 (3): 68–473 [471]. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1924.tb05337.x.
- ^ Mayr, Ernst; Greenway, James C. Jr, eds. (1962). Check-List of Birds of the World. Vol. 15. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Museum of Comparative Zoology. p. 258.
- ^ Jobling, James A. "Nucifraga". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ Jobling, James A. "hemispila". The Key to Scientific Names. Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ de Raad, J.; Päckert, M.; Irestedt, M.; Janke, A.; Kryukov, A.P.; Martens, J.; Red’kin, Y.A.; Sun, Y.; Töpfer, T.; Schleuning, M.; Neuschulz, E.L.; Nilsson, M.A. (2022). "Speciation and population divergence in a mutualistic seed dispersing bird". Communications Biology. 5 (1): 429. doi:10.1038/s42003-022-03364-2. PMC 9085801. PMID 35534538.
- ^ a b Gill, Frank; Donsker, David; Rasmussen, Pamela, eds. (August 2024). "Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise". IOC World Bird List Version 14.2. International Ornithologists' Union. Retrieved 16 September 2024.
- ^ del Hoyo, Josep (2020). All the birds of the world. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. p. 556. ISBN 978-84-16728-37-4.
- ^ Lanner, Ronald M. (1996). Made for each other: A symbiosis of birds and pines. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-508-903-0.