# Southern nutcracker > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Southern_nutcracker > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Southern_nutcracker.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_nutcracker > Source revision: 1315319920 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Speciesbox | image = Nucifraga hemispila perched in Picea smithiana, Rara Lake, Nepal (crop).jpg | image_caption = ''Nucifraga hemispila hemispila'' in western Nepal | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = {{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Nucifraga hemispila'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T103727443A104100871 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T103727443A104100871.en |access-date=16 September 2024}} | genus = Nucifraga | species = hemispila | authority = [Vigors](/source/Nicholas_Aylward_Vigors), 1831 | range_map = | synonyms = ''Nucifraga caryocatactes hemispila'' }} The '''southern nutcracker''' ('''''Nucifraga hemispila''''') is a [passerine](/source/passerine) bird in the crow family [Corvidae](/source/Corvidae). It was formerly considered to be [conspecific](/source/conspecific) with the [northern nutcracker](/source/northern_nutcracker) (''Nucifraga caryocatactes'') and the [Kashmir nutcracker](/source/Kashmir_nutcracker) (''Nucifraga multipunctata'') under the English name "spotted nutcracker". ==Taxonomy== left|thumb|''Nucifraga hemispila owstoni'', Taiwan The southern nutcracker was [formally described](/source/species_description) in 1831 by the Irish zoologist [Nicholas Vigors](/source/Nicholas_Aylward_Vigors) under the [binomial name](/source/binomial_name) ''Nucifraga hemispila''.{{ cite journal | last=Vigors | first=Nicholas Aylward | author-link=Nicholas Aylward Vigors | year=1831 | title=''Nucifraga hemispila'' | journal=Proceedings of the Committee of Science and Correspondence of the Zoological Society of London | volume=1 | issue=18 | page=8 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/12861416 }} He specified the [type locality](/source/type_locality_(biology)) as just "the Himalayas"; however, research into Vigors' travels has been able to restrict the locality to the [Shimla](/source/Shimla) and [Almora](/source/Almora_district) districts of northern India.{{ cite journal | last1=Ticehurst | first1=Claud B. | last2=Whistler | first2=Hugh | date=1924 | title=On the type-locality of certain birds described by Vigors | journal=Ibis | volume=66 | issue=3 | pages=68–473 [471] | doi=10.1111/j.1474-919X.1924.tb05337.x }}{{ cite book | editor1-last=Mayr | editor1-first=Ernst | editor1-link=Ernst Mayr | editor2-last=Greenway | editor2-first=James C. Jr | year=1962 | title=Check-List of Birds of the World | volume=15 | publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology | place=Cambridge, Massachusetts | page=258 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14485631 }} The genus name ''Nucifraga'' is the [Latin](/source/Latin) name given to the [northern nutcracker](/source/northern_nutcracker) by the English naturalist [William Turner](/source/William_Turner_(naturalist)) in 1544, as a translation of the German name ''Nussbrecher'' meaning "nut-breaker".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=Nucifraga | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=Nucifraga | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=16 September 2024 }} The specific epithet ''hemispila'' combines the [Ancient Greek](/source/Ancient_Greek) ἡμι-/''hēmi-'' meaning "half-" or "small" with σπιλος/''spilos'' meaning "stain" or "spot".{{ cite web | last=Jobling | first=James A. | title=hemispila | work=The Key to Scientific Names | url=https://birdsoftheworld.org/bow/key-to-scientific-names/search?q=hemispila | publisher=Cornell Lab of Ornithology | access-date=16 September 2024 }} The southern nutcracker was formerly considered to be [conspecific](/source/conspecific) with the spotted nutcracker (''Nucifraga caryocatactes''), that now renamed in its revised narrower ciscumscription as [northern nutcracker](/source/northern_nutcracker). It is here treated as a separate species based on differences in morphology and vocalisation, as well molecular genetic analysis.{{Cite journal | last1=de Raad | first1=J. | last2=Päckert | first2=M. | last3=Irestedt | first3=M. | last4=Janke | first4=A. | last5=Kryukov | first5=A.P. | last6=Martens | first6=J. | last7=Red'kin | first7=Y.A. | last8=Sun | first8=Y. | last9=Töpfer | first9=T. | last10=Schleuning | first10=M. | last11=Neuschulz | first11=E.L. | last12=Nilsson | first12=M.A. | date=2022 | title=Speciation and population divergence in a mutualistic seed dispersing bird | journal=Communications Biology | volume=5 | issue=1 | page=429 | doi=10.1038/s42003-022-03364-2 | doi-access=free | pmid=35534538 | pmc=9085801 }}{{cite web| editor1-last=Gill | editor1-first=Frank | editor1-link=Frank Gill (ornithologist) | editor2-last=Donsker | editor2-first=David | editor3-last=Rasmussen | editor3-first=Pamela | editor3-link=Pamela C. Rasmussen | date=August 2024 | title=Crows, mudnesters, birds-of-paradise | work=IOC World Bird List Version 14.2 | url=https://www.worldbirdnames.org/bow/crows/ | publisher=International Ornithologists' Union | access-date=16 September 2024 }} Four subspecies are accepted: * ''N. h. hemispila'' [Vigors](/source/Nicholas_Aylward_Vigors), 1831 – northwest, central Himalayas * ''N. h. macella'' [Thayer](/source/John_Thayer_(ornithologist)) & [Bangs](/source/Outram_Bangs), 1909 – east Himalayas to central and southern China and northern Myanmar * ''N. h. interdicta'' [Kleinschmidt](/source/Otto_Kleinschmidt) & [Weigold](/source/Hugo_Weigold), 1922 – northern China * ''N. h. owstoni'' [Ingram, C](/source/Collingwood_Ingram), 1910 – Taiwan ==Description== The 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.{{cite book |last1=del Hoyo|first1=Josep |title=All the birds of the world |date=2020 |publisher=Lynx Edicions |location=Barcelona |isbn=978-84-16728-37-4 |page=556}} ==Ecology and behaviour== It occurs primarily in [pine](/source/Pinus) forests, with particular preference for [Chinese white pine](/source/Pinus_armandii) (''Pinus armandii''), [blue pine](/source/Pinus_wallichiana) (''Pinus wallichiana''), and other related white pines in [''Pinus'' subgenus ''Strobus''](/source/List_of_Pinus_species), the seeds of which it caches and distributes in a manner similar to other nutcrackers; it will also use other conifers such as [spruce](/source/Picea) in the event of cone crop failure in its preferred species.{{cite book |last1=Lanner |first1=Ronald M. |title=Made for each other: A symbiosis of birds and pines |date=1996 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=0-19-508-903-0}} ==References== {{reflist}} {{Taxonbar |from=Q31874513|from2=Q27622995}} Southern nutcracker Category:Birds of Eurasia Southern nutcracker Southern nutcracker --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Southern nutcracker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_nutcracker) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_nutcracker?action=history)). 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