White-tailed Nuthatch

White-tailed Nuthatch
Conservation status
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sittidae
Genus: Sitta
Species: S. himalayensis
Binomial name
Sitta himalayensis
Jardine & Selby, 1835

The White-tailed Nuthatch (Sitta himalayensis) is a species of bird in the Sittidae family. It is found in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, and Vietnam.

Description and ecology

It may be identified by the buff underside, smaller beak than in Sitta cashmirensis. The white on the upper tail coverts is difficult to see in the field. It has a small bill and rufous-organge underparts with unmarked bright rufous undertail-coverts.

Resident in the sub-Himalayan range form Himachal Pradesh to Arunachal Pradesh and into the South Assam Hills (Lushai Hills). It breeds from March to May in broad-leaved and mixed forest.[2]

Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests.

Notes

  1. ^ BirdLife International 2004. Sitta himalayensis. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 27 July 2007.
  2. ^ Rasmussen, P. C. & J. C. Anderton 2005. Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions.