Sitta pusilla

• Common Names
• Description
• Biology
• Taxonomy
• Similar Species
• More Info
• Further Reading
• Notes

Common Names

Click on the language to view common names.

Description

Subfamily 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 .

Physical Description

Habitat

The Brown-headed Nuthatch has an association with pines. Pine woodlands are the key habitat requirement for this species.

Ecology: List of Habitats : 1.9 Forest - Subtropical/Tropical Moist Montane

Biology

Diet

The diet includes insects, spiders, and pine seeds. The Brown-headed Nuthatch gets most of its food by searching the trunks and branches of pine trees . It is also a known tool user , because it will use a piece of bark by grasping it in its bill to pry loose more bark to hunt for insects beneath .

Almost Exclusively: Seeds Insects

Reproduction

The breeding season begins in March, peaks in April, and extends into mid-June. Nesting habitat is strictly associated with pines. This cavity nester usually excavates the nest cavity 0.5-3 m (2-10 feet) in height , usually in a pine snag . It will sometimes use nest boxes placed in appropriate habitat. The female lays 3-7 (usually 4-5) eggs that she incubates for 14 days. The young are altricial and fledge 18-19 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: 3-9
• Length of Incubation : 14 days
• Days to Fledge: 18-19
• Number of Broods: 1

Migration

Nonmigratory

Taxonomy

Notes

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

Similar Species

Red-Breasted Nuthatch, White-Breasted Nuthatch

Members of the genus Sitta

There are approximately 122 species in this genus. Here are just 100 of them:

S. aculeata · S. amurensis · S. arctica (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. azurea (Azure Nuthatch) · S. canadensis (Red-Breasted Nuthatch) · 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 cookei (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis lagunae (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis mexicana (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis nelsoni (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis oberholseri · S. carolinensis tenuissima (White-Breasted Nuthatch) · S. carolinensis umbrosa · S. carolinesis · S. cashmirensis (Kashmir Nuthatch) · S. castanea (Chestnut-Bellied Nuthatch) · S. castanea castanea (Chestnut-Bellied Nuthatch) · S. castanea cinnamoventris · S. castanea neglecta · S. castanea tonkinensis · S. cinnamomeiventris · S. cinnamoventris · S. europaea (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europaea albifrons (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europaea amurensis (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europaea asiatica (Asian Wood Nuthatch) · S. europaea atlas · S. europaea bedfordi (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europaea caesia (European Wood Nuthatch) · S. europaea caucasica (Caucasian Wood Nuthatch) · S. europaea cisalpina (Central European Wood Nuthatch) · S. europaea europaea (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europaea forma tibetosinensis Kleinschmidt & Weingold, 1922 · S. europaea hispaniensis (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europaea itschangensis O. Kleinschmidt & Weigold, 1922 · S. europaea kleinschmidti · S. europaea levantina (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europaea persica (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europaea roseilia · S. europaea rubiginosa (Caspian Wood Nuthatch) · S. europaea sakhalinensis · S. europaea seorsa (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europaea sinensis (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. europea · S. europea cisalpina · S. europea europea · S. europea sztolcmani · S. formosa (Beautiful Nuthatch) · S. frontalis (Velvet-Fronted Nuthatch) · S. frontalis corallipes · S. frontalis frontalis (Velvet-Fronted Nuthatch) · S. frontalis hageni · S. frontalis isarog · S. frontalis oenochlamys · S. frontalis palawana · S. frontalis saturatior · S. frontalis zamboanga · S. hariabica · S. hassica · S. himalayensis (White-Tailed Nuthatch) · S. krueperi (Krueper's Nuthatch) · S. kruperi · S. ledanti (Algerian Nuthatch) · S. leucopsis (White-Cheeked Nuthatch) · S. leucopsis leucopsis (White-Cheeked Nuthatch) · S. magna (Giant Nuthatch) · S. magna ligea · S. magna magna · S. montium · S. montium tibetosinensis · S. nagaensis (Chestnut-Vented Nuthatch) · S. nagaensis grisiventris · S. nagaensis montium (Eurasian Nuthatch) · S. nagaensis nagaensis (Chestnut-Vented Nuthatch) · S. neglecta · S. neumayer (Western Rock-Nuthatch) · S. neumayer neumayer (Western Rock Nuthatch) · S. neumayer rupicola · S. neumayer syriaca · S. neumayer tschitscherini · S. oenochlamys (Sulphur-Billed Nuthatch) · S. oenochlamys lilacea · S. oenochlamys mesoleuca · S. oenochlamys oenochlamys (Sulphur-Billed Nuthatch) · S. przewalskii · S. pusilla (Brown-Headed Nuthatch) · S. pusilla caniceps (Brown-Headed Nuthatch) · S. pusilla insularis · S. pusilla pusilla (Brown-Headed Nuthatch) · S. pygmaea (Black-Eared Nuthatch) · S. pygmaea brunnescens · S. pygmaea canescens · S. pygmaea flavinucha · S. pygmaea leuconucha · S. pygmaea melanotis (Pygmy Nuthatch)

More Info

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Further Reading

• A check list of North American birds. Boston: Estes and Lauriat, 1882. ENG url p. 30.
• A history of North American birds, by S.F. Baird, T.M. Brewer, and R. Ridgway. Land birds, illustrated by 64 chromo-lithographic plates and 593 woodcuts. Boston, Little, Brown, 1875. ENG url p. 114, p. 122, p. 502.
• A manual of the ornithology of the United States and of Canada. By Thomas Nuttall.. . Cambridge, Hilliard and Brown, 1832-1834. ENG url p. 584.
• American ornithology, or, The natural history of the birds of the United States: illustrated with plates engraved from drawings from nature / by Alexander Wilson and Charles Lucian Bonaparte. Philadelphia: Porter & Coates, [1878?] ENG url p. 195.
• Animal Ecology. Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 1961. ENG url p. 460.
• Annals of the Carnegie Museum. [Pittsburgh]: Published by authority of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Institute, 1901- ENG url p. 391, p. 486.
• Archiv für Naturgeschichte. Berlin: Nicolai, 1835- GER url p. 463, p. 49.
• Bird guide: land birds east of the Rockies from parrots to bluebirds / by Chester A. Reed. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page, 1916, c1909. ENG url p. 194.
• Bird-lore. New York, National Association of Audubon Societies. ENG url p. 446.
• BirdLife International. 2000. Threatened Birds of the World. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, U.K.
• BirdLife International. 2004 Threatened Birds of the World 2004. CD-ROM. BirdLife International, Cambridge, U.K.
• Birds of America; editor-in-chief, T. Gilbert Pearson; consulting editor, John Burroughs; artists, R.I. Brasher, R. Bruce Horsfall [and] Henry Thurston. New York, The University Society, 1923. ENG url p. 203.
• Birds of New York / by Elon Howard Eaton. Albany: University of the State of New York, 1910-1914. ENG url p. 501.
• Birds. With the co-operation of John Cassin and George N. Lawrence. Washington, D.C., 1858. ENG url p. 377.
• Bulletin - United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.];1877-1971. ENG url p. 14, p. 233, p. 342, p. 35, p. 42, p. 441, p. 453, p. 456, p. 463, p. 470, p. 752.
• Bulletin / Peabody Museum of Natural History. New Haven: The Museum, ENG url p. 185.
• Bulletin of the Essex Institute. Salem, Mass., Essex Institute. ENG url p. 180, p. 32, p. 35.
• Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard College. Cambridge, Mass.: The Museum, ENG url p. 115, p. 174, p. 265, p. 393.
• Bulletin of the Nuttall Ornithological Club. Cambridge, Mass.: The Club, [1876-1883] ENG url p. 114, p. 115, p. 171, p. 211, p. 55.
• Cassinia. Philadelphia, Delaware Valley Ornithological Club. ENG url p. 63, p. 64, p. 73, p. 76, p. 88.
• Catalogue of birds of the Americas and the adjacent islands in Field Museum of Natural History. by Charles E. Hellmayr. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1934. ENG url p. 97.
• Catalogue of the Birds in the British Museum. London, 1874-98. ENG url p. 356.
• Check-list of North American birds / prepared by a committee of the American ornithologists' union. Lancaster, Pa.: The Union, 1931. ENG url p. 238, p. 486.
• Check-list of North American birds: according to the canons of nomenclature of the American Ornithologists' Union. [s.l.]: The Union, 1889. ENG url p. 64.
• Color key to North American birds, by Frank M. Chapman.. . with upward of 800 drawings by Chester A. Reed, B. S. New York, Doubleday, Page & company, 1903. ENG url p. 246.
• Die Nord-Amerikanische Vogelwelt. Von Heinrich Nehrling.. . Unter krischer Mitwirkung von Prof. Robert Ridgway.. . Prof. A. Gg.. . und Akademiemaler Gustav M... Milwaukee, Wis., G. Brumder[1889]-91. GER url p. 111.
• Field ornithology. Comprising a manual of instruction for procuring, preparing and preserving birds, and a check list of North American birds, by Elliott Coues. Salem [Mass.]Naturalists' Agency, 1874. ENG url p. 11.
• Great Basin naturalist memoirs. [Provo, Utah]Brigham Young University, 1976-1992. ENG url p. 156, p. 214, p. 221.
• Journal of the Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society. Chapel Hill, N.C. [etc.]:Elisha Mitchell Scientific Society [etc.], 1884-2001. ENG url p. 30.
• Katalog der Eiersammlung, nebst Beschreibungeh der aussereuropchen Eier. Berlin, R. Friedler & Sohn, 1910. GER url p. 267.
• Key to North American birds. Containing a concise account of every species of living and fossil bird at present known from the continent north of the Mexican and United States boundary, inclusive of Greenland and lower California Boston, Estes and Lauriat, 1890. ENG url p. 270.
• Michigan bird life: a list of all the bird species known to occur in the State together with an outline of their classification and an account of the life history of each species, with special reference to its relation t by Walter Bradford Barrows. Lansing: Michigan Agricultural College, 1912. ENG url p. 755, p. 756.
• Miscellaneous publication - University of Kansas, Museum of Natural History. Lawrence, University of Kansas, 1946-1996. ENG url p. 39.
• Naturalist's guide to the Americas, prepared by the Committee on the Preservation of Natural Conditions of the Ecological Society of America, with assistance from numerous organizations and individuals, assembled and edited by chairman, Baltimore, Williams & Wilkins, 1926. ENG url p. 750.
• Nests and eggs of North American birds; by Oliver Davie. Columbus [O.]Hann & Adair, 1889. ENG url p. 412.
• North American birds eggs, by Chester A. Reed...illustrating the eggs of nearly every species of North American birds. New York, Doubleday, Page & company, 1904. ENG url p. 319.
• Ornithologist and oist. Pawtucket, R.I. ENG url p. 21.
• Our birds in their haunts: a popular treatise on the birds of Eastern North America / by J. Hibbert Langille. Boston, S. E. Cassino, 1884. ENG url p. 73.
• Our living resources: a report to the nation on the distribution, abundance, and health of U.S. plants, animals, and ecosystems / [edited by], Edward T. LaRoe.. . [et al.]. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept. of the Interior, National Biological Service, 1995. ENG url p. 488.
• Proceedings of the United States National Museum. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, [etc.] ENG url p. 506, p. 558, p. 575.
• Report upon United States Geographical surveys west of the one hundredth meridian, in charge of First Lieut. Geo. M. Wheeler [...] under the direction of the chief of engineers, U.S. Army. Published by authority of [...] the secretary of war in accordanc Washington: Govt. print. off., 1875-89. ENG url p. 175.
• Review of American birds, in the Museum of the Smithsonian Institution. By S.F. Baird. Washington, Smithsonian Institution, 1864/72. ENG url p. 88.
• Smithsonian miscellaneous collections. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, 1862-1968. ENG url p. 169, p. 8, p. 88.
• The Bahama Islands / edited by George Burbank Shattuck. [Baltimore]: Johns Hopkins Press; 1905. ENG url p. 351, p. 365.
• The Journal of the Cincinnati Society of Natural History. Cincinnati: The Society, 1878/79, i.e. 1878 or 1879-1945 ENG url p. 69.
• The Wilson bulletin. Columbus, Ohio: Wilson Ornithological Society, 1894- ENG url p. 12.
• The bird book: illustrating in natural colors more than seven hundred North American birds; also several hundred photographs of their nests and eggs / by Chester A. Reed. Garden City, New York, Doubleday, Page & company, 1915. ENG url p. 432.
• The birds of Illinois and Wisconsin. Chicago, 1909. ENG url p. 267, p. 267, p. 696, p. 696, p. 761, p. 761.
• The birds of Ohio; a complete scientific and popular description of the 320 species of birds found in the state. With introd. and analytical keys by Lynds Jones; illustrated with photos. taken by the author and others. Columbus, Wheaton Pub. Co., 1903. ENG url p. 241, p. 660.
• The birds of eastern North America known to occur east of the nineteenth meridian.. . by Charles B. Cory.. . Chicago, Printed for the Field Columbian Museum [by A. Mudge], 1899. ENG url p. 385.
• The birds of eastern North America: known to occur east of the ninetieth meridian / by Charles B. Cory. Chicago: Field Columbian Museum, 1899. ENG url p. 317, p. 385.
• The code of nomenclature and check-list of North American birds adopted by the American Ornithologists' Union; being the report of the Committee of the Union on Classification and Nomenclature. New York, 1886. ENG url p. 332, p. 387.
• The oist. Albion, N.Y.: Frank H. Lattin, 1886-1941. ENG url p. 170, p. 191.
• The ornithology of Illinois / [by Robert Ridgway and S.A. Forbes]. Springfield, Ill., H.W. Rokker, printer, 1889-1895. ENG url p. 83.
• The ornithology of Illinois. Part I. Descriptive catalogue. By Robert Ridgway. Part II. Economic ornithology. By S. A. Forbes. Pub. by the authority of the state Legislature. Springfield, Ill., H. W. Rokker, printer, 1889-95. ENG url p. 83.
• The transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis. St. Louis: The Academy, 1860-1958. ENG url p. 254.
• Transactions of the Academy of Science of Saint Louis. [St. Louis, Academy of Science of St. Louis] ENG url p. 254.
• Transactions of the Maryland Academy of Science and Literature. Baltimore: The Academy, 1837. ENG url p. 367.

Notes

Contributors

• BirdLife International 2004. In IUCN 2008. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCNRedList.org. Downloaded July 18, 2008.
• 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 and ITIS Catalogue of Life: 2007 Annual Checklist. Species 2000: Reading, U.K.
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Accessed March 13, 2008. http://www.gbif.org Mediated distribution data from 7 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.
• Peterson, Alan P. Zoological Nomenclature Resource. Accessed June 19, 2009.
• 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 13, 2008:

• Avian Knowledge Network: eBird
• Avian Knowledge Network: Great Backyard Bird Count
• Avian Knowledge Network: Project FeederWatch
• Borror Laboratory of Bioacoustics
• Canadian Museum of Nature: Canadian Museum of Nature Bird Collection
• Cornell University Museum of Vertebrates: Bird Collection
• UCLA-Dickey Bird Collection (UCLA-Dickey): Bird specimens

Identifiers

• Biodiversity Heritage Library NamebankID: 3848280
• Catalogue of Life Accepted Name Code: ITS-178787
• Global Biodiversity Information Facility Taxonkey: 13823649
• Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) Taxonomic Serial Number (TSN): 178785
• IUCN ID: 51967
• Natural Heritage Network Species Identifier: ABPAZ01040
• Zipcode Zoo Species Identifier: 226

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