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Sitta carolinensis

(White-Breasted Nuthatch)

Conservation Status

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Status

This species is common in appropriate habitat and is not listed as Threatened or Endangered in any part of its southeastern range.

Taxonomy

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  • Domain: Eukaryota Whittaker & Margulis,1978 - eukaryotes
    • Kingdom: Animalia Linnaeus, 1758 - Linnaeus, 1758 - animals
      • Subkingdom: Bilateria (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - (Hatschek, 1888) Cavalier-Smith, 1983 - bilaterians

Notes:

Name Status: Accepted Name. Latest taxonomic scrutiny: 17-Oct-2001

Physical Description

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Family Sittidae:

A family of small passerine birds in 23 species. Most live in the woods, and all can run down trees head first. Nuthatches featuresbig heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet. They are omnivorous.

Adult:

Head: Cap: black Face: white Bill: black Curvature: slight upturn at tip Length: long Neck: Collar: black partial collar on hindneck Nape: black Body: Lower Belly: white with rusty wash Upper Belly: white Breast: white Flanks: white with rusty wash Underparts: white Upperparts: blue-gray Legs: Foot Color: black Leg Color: black Wings: Secondaries: blackish blue with white edging Tertials: blackish blue with white edging Tail: blue-black with white patches Crissum: white with rusty wash.

Size/Age/Growth:

About 5 to 6 inches long, with a wingspan of 9 to 11 inches. Adults weigh about 0.7 ounces.

Images:

Distribution

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Range and Population

North America

Habitat

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Hardwood forests are the primary habitat of the White-breasted Nuthatch. It prefers mature trees and will frequent more open forested areas, including residential areas, parks, and bottomlands. Found in confiers and deciduous forests in winter.

Vegetation: tropical lowland evergreen forest, pine forests, tropical lowland evergreen forest, pine-oak forests, gallery forests • Minimum Elevation: 1,250 meters • Maximum Elevation: 3,600 meters • Foraging Strata: Canopy • Center of Abundance: Upper subtropical: higher slopes, 500-1,600 m.; subtropics. • Relative Abundance in Tropical America: Fairly common • Sensitivity to Disturbance: Medium.

Diet

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The diet of this nuthatch includes mostly insects and spiders, although during the winter it may eat some acorns and nuts. The food is found by searching the trunks and branches of trees.

Reproduction

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The breeding season begins in mid-March, peaks in mid-April, and extends through May. The nest site is commonly 3-18 m (10-60 feet) high. This adaptable species nests in a naturally occurring cavity, excavates its own cavity, uses an abandoned woodpecker cavity, or occasionally uses nest boxes. The female lays 3-10 (usually 5-8) eggs that she incubates for 12 days. The male feeds the incubating female. The young are altricial and fledge 14 days after hatching. The juveniles are fed for a short period after leaving the nest.

  • Breeding Habitat: Woodland
  • Nest Location: Mid-story/canopy nesting
  • Nest Type: Cavity
  • Clutch Size: 5-10
  • Length of Incubation: 12 days
  • Days to Fledge: 14

Migration

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Nonmigratory

Song/Voice

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The call of this species is a low, nasal yank.


The second two "phrases" of this sample are actually a "duetting" pair - two birds singing at once.
Recordist: Doug Von Gausig Date Recorded: July 10, 1999 Location of Recording: Lynx Creek, east of Prescott, Arizona Copyright Holder: NatureSongs.com Permissions for Use: Read this


Sitta carolinensis
Recordist: Tony Phillips Date Recorded: May 01, 1997 Location of Recording: Long Island

Similar Species

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Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Members of the genus Sitta:

There are approximately 141 species and subspecies in this genus. Here are just 100 of them: S. aculeata · S. albifrons · S. americana · S. amurensis · S. azurea · S. bedfordi · S. canadensis (Red-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. canadensis canadensis · S. canadensis villosa · S. carolinensis (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis aculeata (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis alexandrae (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis atkinsi · S. carolinensis carolinensis (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis carolinesis · S. carolinensis cookei (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis kinneari · S. carolinensis lagunae (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis mexicana (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis nelsoni (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis oberholseri · S. carolinensis ssp · S. carolinensis tenuissima (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis umbrosa · S. carolinesis · S. cashmirensis · S. castanea · S. castanea almorae · S. castanea castanea · S. castanea cinnamoventris · S. castanea neglecta · S. castanea prateri · S. castanea tonkinensis · S. castaneoventris almorae · S. chrysoptera · S. cinnamomeiventris · S. corallina · S. corea · S. europaea · S. europaea amurensis · S. europaea asiatica · S. europaea atlas · S. europaea britannica · S. europaea caesia · S. europaea cisalpina · S. europaea europaea · S. europaea forma tibetosinensis Kleinschmidt & Weingold, 1922 · S. europaea grisiventris · S. europaea hispaniensis · S. europaea hondoensis · S. europaea itschangensis O. Kleinschmidt & Weigold, 1922 · S. europaea kleinschmidti · S. europaea kongboensis · S. europaea konyboensis · S. europaea leinschmidti · S. europaea levantina · S. europaea norwegica · S. europaea persica · S. europaea roseilia · S. europaea sinensis · S. europea · S. europea cisalpina · S. europea europea · S. europea sztolcmani · S. formosa (Beautiful Nuthatch) · S. frontalis · S. frontalis apo · S. frontalis corallina · S. frontalis corallipes · S. frontalis frontalis · S. frontalis hageni · S. frontalis isarog · S. frontalis mesoleuca · S. frontalis oenochlamys · S. frontalis palawana · S. frontalis saturatior · S. frontalis zamboanga · S. hariabica · S. hassica · S. himalayensis · S. himalayensis himalayensis · S. himalayensis whistleri · S. krueperi · S. kruperi · S. ledanti (Algerian Nuthatch) · S. leucopsis · S. leucopsis leucopsis · S. magna (Giant Nuthatch) · S. magna magna · S. montium · S. montium tibetosinensis · S. nagaensis · S. nagaensis grisiventris · S. nagaensis montium · S. nagaensis nagaensis · S. neglecta · S. neumayer · S. neumayer kurdistanica · S. neumayer neumayer · S. neumayer rupicola

Members of the genus Pongo:

There are approximately 6 species and subspecies in this genus: P. abelii (Sumatran Orang-Utan) · P. pygmaeus (Orang-Utan) · P. pygmaeus abelii · P. pygmaeus pygmaeus (Western Bornean Orang-Utan) · P. pygmaeus wurmbii (Southern Bornean Orang-Utan) · P. satyrus

More Info

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Notes

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Contributors:

  • Bisby, F.A., Y.R. Roskov, M.A. Ruggiero, T.M. Orrell, L.E. Paglinawan, P.W. Brewer, N. Bailly, J. van Hertum, eds (2007). Species 2000 & ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
  • Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed May 16, 2006. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 9 providers.
  • Hines, J. E., Gregory Gough, J. R. Sauer, et al. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center
  • NatureServe. 2003. Downloadable animal data sets. NatureServe Central Databases. Accessed February 6, 2005.
  • Parker III, T.A., D.F. Stotz, and J.W. Fitzpatrick, and quot;Ecological and Distributional Databases for Neotropical Birds, and quot; in Neotropical Birds: Ecology and Conservation, by D.F. Stotz, T.A. Parker III, J.W. Fitzpatrick, and D.K. Moskovits (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). ISBN 0-226-64676-9.
  • Sauer, J. R., J. E. Hines, and J. Fallon. 2005. The North American Breeding Bird Survey, Results and Analysis 1966 - 2004. Version 2005.2. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
  • Sauer, J. R., S. Schwartz, and B. Hoover. 1996. The Christmas Bird Count Home Page. Version 95.1. USGS Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Laurel, MD
  • The Georgia Museum of Natural History and Georgia Department of Natural Resources

Data Sources:

Accessed through GBIF Data Portal March 05, 2008:

  • Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
  • Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
  • Avian Knowledge Network: Project FeederWatch
  • Bird Studies Canada: Marsh Monitoring Program - Birds
  • Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 1981-1985
  • Bird Studies Canada: Ontario Breeding Bird Atlas 2001-2005
  • Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
  • Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Provincial Museum of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada. Birds (Aves)
  • Canadian Biodiversity Information Facility: Royal British Columbia Museum
  • Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Bird Collection
  • EMAN Provider: PIROP (Shipboard Surveys)
  • Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University: MCZ Ornithology Collection
  • Museum of Vertebrate Zoology: Terrestrial vertebrate specimens
  • New Brunswick Museum: NBM birds
  • Royal Ontario Museum: Bird specimens
  • Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History: Santa Barbara Musem of Natural History
  • UNIBIO, IBUNAM: CNAV/Coleccion Nacional de Aves
  • University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (UMMZ): Bird specimens

Identifiers:

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Last Revised: March 07, 2008