Caucasian squirrel
Sciurus anomalus
Overview
Caucasian squirrel in Georgia
The Caucasian squirrel (Sciurus anomalus) is a native tree squirrel in Georgia, with a chestnut-grey back and a rusty belly. It is a mammal in the squirrel family (Sciuridae) and lives here year-round. At species level total length is about 32–36 cm, the tail 13–18 cm, and mass about 250–410 g. It has no venom; it can bite if handled. IUCN lists it as Least Concern. Georgia’s 2014 Red List lists it as Vulnerable (VU, A1e) because of pressure from an introduced species.
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Gallery
Caucasian squirrel in photos
Photo: Zauri Khachidze
Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park ·
Georgia field photo
Photo: Yuri Samoylov · Wikimedia Commons
Vake Park, Tbilisi ·
Photo: Zeynel Cebeci · Wikimedia Commons
Saimbeyli ·
Photo: Zeynel Cebeci · Wikimedia Commons
Saimbeyli ·
Photo: VisamLord90 · Wikimedia Commons
Alaçam ·
Photo: Bouke ten Cate · Wikimedia Commons
Lesbos ·
Photo: Adem · Wikimedia Commons
Suşehri ·
Photo: Esin Üstün · Wikimedia Commons
Istanbul ·
Identification
How to identify Caucasian squirrel
A medium tree squirrel with a chestnut-grey back, a pale eye-ring, and a rusty to yellowish belly. Native and resident in Georgia.
Total length about 32–36 cm, tail 13–18 cm, mass about 250–410 g. There is no obvious size or colour difference between males and females. Claws are relatively short for a tree squirrel. The ears may show small winter tufts (about 1.0–1.2 cm) in the north of the range; they are not the long tufts of S. vulgaris (about 2.5–3.5 cm where the two overlap). The Borjomi-Kharagauli photograph of 4 June 2015 on this page shows short, rounded ears without long tufts.
The back is buffy chestnut-grey in the nominate subspecies (S. a. anomalus), which is the form of Transcaucasia, Turkey, and Lesbos. A pale buff to yellow ring around the eye is usual. The belly is rust-chestnut to buff-yellow — not white. The tail is heavily furred and may be yellow-brown to deep red. Summer and winter coats are similar; the belly may look rustier in winter.
The only other Sciurus in Georgia is the introduced Eurasian red squirrel (S. vulgaris), tabulated in Bukhnikashvili et al. 2023. Distinguish it in the field by the belly: white or cream in vulgaris, rusty or yellowish in anomalus. Vulgaris is more strictly arboreal and, in winter in the overlap zone, has longer ear tufts. The edible dormouse (Glis glis) is smaller, grey, nocturnal, and lacks the long bushy squirrel tail. This atlas has no vulgaris or dormouse page yet.
It is not venomous. A daytime squirrel in Georgian woodland or a city park, with a rusty belly and no long ear tufts, is this species if the identification is to Sciurus. Do not handle it to check pads or teats.
Biology
Habitat, diet, behavior, and conservation
Habitat and range
In Georgia look for it in deciduous and mixed forest — beech, chestnut, oak, hazel — and in orchards and parks with mature trees. National Geographic Georgia places the Georgian range on the southern slopes of the Greater Caucasus and the northern slopes of the Lesser Caucasus. Koprowski and co-authors, summarising Caucasian literature, say beech forest up to about 2,000 m is typical and that pine forest is often avoided; that is a Caucasus-level picture, not a measured Georgian elevation belt. The same review says that in Transcaucasia the species stays mainly at elevations where snow is uncommon. The Borjomi-Kharagauli photograph on this page shows an animal on a conifer branch — one observation, not a settlement of the habitat question. Named points: the type locality at the fortress of Sabeka on the Sulori River, about 25 km southwest of Kutaisi (Chaworth-Musters 1937); Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park, 4 June 2015 (photograph by ზაური ხაჩიძე on this page); Vake Park, Tbilisi, 9 February 2025 (photograph by Yuri Samoylov on this page). Bukhnikashvili, Kandaurov, Sheklashvili and Natradze 2023 compile 71 Georgian records from 1855–2022 — mostly museum and literature, plus two unpublished field records — without reprinting the full gazetteer here. This page does not colour administrative regions. Do not assume even density across the country.
Diet
There is no separate Georgian diet study on this page. Across the range tree seeds are the main food: acorns, beechnuts, chestnuts, walnuts, and hazelnuts. Caucasian accounts also list apricot stones, fruit (apple, pear, peach, grape, plum), berries, mushrooms, and occasionally insects, eggs, or nestlings. It stores nuts in tree cavities, rock clefts, or buildings; Enukidze 1960 describes larders of up to 5–6 kg. In some areas it also buries seed in leaf litter. Forgotten stores can germinate — a seed-dispersal role, not specialised “gardening”. The realistic picture in Georgia is forest and orchard seed, but the local menu has not been measured here.
Behavior
It is active by day and does not hibernate. Activity is often morning and late afternoon, with a midday pause in warm weather and a shift toward midday in winter. It forages in trees and on the ground and is more terrestrial than the Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris). Leaps between trees are uncommon in the Caucasian literature. Nests are usually tree hollows lined with moss and dry leaves, often 5–14 m up, with the entrance facing south or southeast; nests under rocks, roots, or buildings are also recorded. According to Enukidze 1960, adults moult twice a year: spring (February–April) and autumn (September–October); the moult lasts longer above 1,500 m. Breeding can occur through much of the year; in Transcaucasia litters of 2–7 young are most often reported in late January–early February, April, and mid-July–late August. Those dates are regional, not a Georgian den sample. The female cares for the young. The call is a sharp metallic chit-chit-chit; Stroganova compared it with the green woodpecker. There is no Georgian recording on this page; the clip is xeno-canto XC961887 (Stuart Fisher, Sarıyer, Istanbul, 22 December 2008), marked uncertain by the recordist.
Conservation
Yiğit, Kryštufek, Sozen, Bukhnikashvili and Shenbrot assess the species as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List (2016 assessment; 2017 errata version). The global range is wide; the main named threat is habitat destruction. Georgia’s 2014 Red List (Government Resolution No. 190) lists it as Vulnerable (VU, A1e): under pressure from an introduced species. That introduced squirrel is Sciurus vulgaris, released onto the northern Greater Caucasus from the Altai in 1937 and now sympatric with S. anomalus in parts of the Caucasus (Stroganova 1958; Vereshchagin 1967). Bukhnikashvili et al. 2023 also tabulate Georgian records of S. vulgaris (54 records in the same compilation). Field identification to species still matters. This atlas has no Eurasian red squirrel page yet. Local pressures also include forest loss and, historically, fur harvest; a current national trend is not measured on this page. Red List listing means the taxon is treated as protected in Georgia; do not treat IUCN LC as a licence to take it.
Questions
Frequently asked questions
Short answers to the most important questions about Caucasian squirrel.
Yes. It is native and resident. The type locality was restricted to near Kutaisi. National mammal lists include it.
In deciduous and mixed forest and in orchards and parks with large trees. Named points include the type locality near Kutaisi; Borjomi-Kharagauli National Park (photograph, 4 June 2015); and Vake Park in Tbilisi (photograph, 9 February 2025). A 2023 compilation has 71 Georgian records from 1855–2022. This page does not map every region.
Medium tree squirrel, chestnut-grey back, pale eye-ring, rusty or yellowish belly — not white. Total length about 32–36 cm, tail 13–18 cm.
The Eurasian red squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) has a white or cream belly and, in winter where the two overlap, longer ear tufts. The Caucasian squirrel’s belly is rusty or yellowish.
Mainly tree seeds and nuts. Diet has not been studied separately in Georgia on this page.
By day, year-round. It does not hibernate. It is a resident and does not migrate like many birds.
Yes. A sharp metallic chit-chit-chit. The clip on this page is from Turkey (xeno-canto XC961887) and is marked uncertain by the recordist; there is no Georgian recording here.
It is not venomous. It can bite if handled. Do not pick it up.
Globally Least Concern. On Georgia’s 2014 Red List it is Vulnerable because of an introduced squirrel. Do not treat IUCN LC as a licence to take it.
References
Sources
References
Sources
- Yiğit et al. 2016/2017 — IUCN Red List, Sciurus anomalus
- Koprowski, Gavish & Doumas 2016 — Mammalian Species 48, Sciurus anomalus
- Bukhnikashvili, Kandaurov, Sheklashvili & Natradze 2023 — Rodent and hare records in Georgia, 1855–2022
- Bukhnikashvili & Kandaurov 2002 — The annotated list of mammals of Georgia
- საქართველოს მთავრობის დადგენილება №190 (2014) — წითელი ნუსხა
- Chaworth-Musters 1937 — type locality of Sciurus anomalus
- National Geographic Georgia — კავკასიური ციყვი
- ASM Mammal Diversity Database — Sciurus anomalus
- Stroganova 1958 — ecology of Sciurus anomalus
- Enukidze 1960 — biology of the Transcaucasian squirrel
- Vereshchagin 1967 — Mammals of the Caucasus
- ზაური ხაჩიძე — კავკასიური ციყვი, ბორჯომ-ხარაგაულის ეროვნული პარკი (2015-06-04)
- Wikimedia Commons — Sincap, Saimbeyli (Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Vake Park, Tbilisi (Yuri Samoylov, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Sincap 02, Saimbeyli (Zeynel Cebeci, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Alaçam, Samsun (VisamLord90, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Lesbos (Bouke ten Cate, CC BY 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — nest, Suşehri (Adem, CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Wikimedia Commons — Istanbul (Esin Üstün, CC BY 2.0)
- xeno-canto XC961887 — Sciurus anomalus (Stuart Fisher; ID uncertain)
Species profiles are compiled from peer-reviewed literature and established biodiversity databases, and are reviewed as new taxonomic and conservation data become available.
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