Editing Algerian nuthatch (section)

== Description ==
[[File:Sitta ledanti - Karim Haddad - female (cropped).jpeg|left|thumb|alt=A grey bird with brown body, gleaning|A female Algerian nuthatch, with very little black on the crown, barely spotting the front of the forehead.]]
The Algerian nuthatch is a medium-sized nuthatch;<ref name="Harrap">{{cite book |last=Harrap |first=Simon |url=http://www.digimages.info/sitkab/SittelleKabyle_BW_2002_5_154-156.pdf|title= Little known West Palearctic birds: Algerian Nuthatch|publisher=[[Birding World]]|date=1992|volume=5|issue=4|pages=154–156}}</ref> it measures between {{convert|11.5|cm|in|abbr=on}} and {{convert|12.5|cm|in|abbr=on}},<ref name="Lars Svensson">[[Lars Svensson (ornithologist)|Svensson, L.]], [[Killian Mullarney|Mullarney, K.]], & [[Dan Zetterström|Zetterström, D.]] (2022) ''[[Collins Bird Guide]]'', ed. 3. {{ISBN|978-0-00-854746-2}}, pages 362-363</ref> and weighs about {{convert|18|g|oz}}.<ref name="Laurence">{{Cite web |last=D. |first=Laurence |title=La sittelle kabyle (''Sitta ledanti''): l'oiseau rare |language=fr |trans-title=The Kabyle nuthatch (''Sitta ledanti''): the rare bird. Interview with J.-P. Ledant.|url=https://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/index2.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.monde-berbere.net%2Fnature1A1.htm#federation=archive.wikiwix.com|date=2007|access-date=24 January 2022}}</ref> The {{birdgloss|upperparts}} are overall bluish grey; the tail has a small subterminal white band bordered with beige. The belly is washed with light salmon-beige up to the [[covert feathers|undertail coverts]]; the latter are grey at their base.<ref name="Jacques Vielliard 1">{{cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Vielliard |journal=Alauda|title= The Djebel Babor and its Nuthatch, Sitta ledanti Vielliard 1976|date=1978|volume=46|issue=1|pages=1–42}}</ref> The male has a black forehead and a dark {{birdgloss|eyestripe}}, separated from the {{birdgloss|crown}} by a broad, sharp white [[supercilium]]. In females, the crown and eyestripe are the same grey as the back, with the front of the crown sometimes darker (when the [[plumage]] is worn), but not as dark as in males.<ref name="Harrap"/> In both sexes, the sides of the head and the throat are white.<ref name="Lars Svensson"/> The [[Iris (anatomy)|iris]] are brown-black, the legs lead-grey and the {{birdgloss|bill}} bluish-grey.<ref name="Jacques Vielliard 2">{{cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Vielliard |journal=Alauda|title=The Kabyle Nuthatch|date=1976|volume=3|issue=1|pages=351–352}}</ref> The juvenile plumage is similar to that of the female, but duller and with an inconspicuous supercilium;<ref name="Harrap"/> after leaving the nest, bill growth and [[pigmentation]] of the bill and legs are incomplete.<ref name="Jacques Vielliard 3">{{cite journal |last=Jacques |first=Vielliard |journal=Alauda|title= Additional remarks on the Kabyle Nuthatch ''Sitta ledanti'' Vielliard 1976|date=1980|volume=48|issue=2–3|pages=139–150}}</ref>

Within its range, the Kabyle nuthatch cannot be confused with any other bird. The closest nuthatch geographically is the [[Eurasian nuthatch]] (''Sitta europaea'') which inhabits Europe widely and some localities in the [[Morocco|Moroccan]] [[Rif]] mountains;<ref name="Eric Burnier">{{cite journal |last=Burnier |first=Eric |journal=Nos Oiseaux|title= Une nouvelle espèce de l'avifaune paléarctique: la Sittelle kabyle, ''Sitta ledanti''|trans-title=A new species of Palearctic avifauna: the Kabyle Nuthatch, ''Sitta ledanti''|date=December 1976|volume=33|issue=8|pages=337–340|language=fr}}</ref> this species is larger than the Algerian, has no black on the crown and has orange-buff (or white for some subspecies) {{birdgloss|underparts}} tending to orange around the [[Rump (animal)|rump]].<ref name="Lars Svensson"/> The Kabyle nuthatch strongly resembles the [[Corsican nuthatch]] (''Sitta whiteheadi''), but the black crown differs in the males; that of the Algerian species covers the front of the head, as opposed to the whole head in the Corsican nuthatch. The underparts are of a warmer pinkish buff in the Algerian species. It is [[phylogenetically]] very close to [[Krüper's nuthatch]] (''Sitta krueperi''), with the front of the crown dark in the male and the supercilium marked white, but Krüper's nuthatch has pale grey underparts and a large russet-brown pectoral patch.<ref name="Lars Svensson"/>