Brown-headed Nuthatch

Brown-headed Nuthatch

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

One of the few birds found almost exclusively in the United States, the Brown-headed Nuthatch is restricted to the pine forests of the southeastern states. A small but declining population is also found in The Bahamas.

Description

• Small nuthatch; climbs headfirst down tree trunks.
• Crown dull brown.
• Underparts whitish.
• Back, nape, wings, and rump blue gray.

• Size: 10-11 cm (4-4 in)
• Wingspan: 16-18 cm (6-7 in)
• Weight: 10 g (0.35 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes alike.

Sound

Calls are high pitched and squeaky, like the squeaks of a rubber duck toy.

Conservation Status

Decreasing throughout range because of habitat degradation. The population on Grand Bahama Island, which is possibly a distinct subspecies, is nearly gone, probably the result of logging. Listed on the Audubon Watchlist.

Other Names

Sitelle à tête brune (French)
Sita del Pinar (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• Tool use in birds is rare, but the Brown-headed Nuthatch will use a piece of bark as a lever to pry up other bark to look for food. It may carry the bark tool from tree to tree, and may use it to cover a seed cache.

• Nests of Brown-headed Nuthatches are regularly attended by extra birds, usually young males. Whether these helpers-at-the-nest are older offspring of the breeding pair is not yet known.

• The Brown-headed Nuthatch may sleep in a tree cavity or in the open on pine branches. The female or the breeding pair roosts in the nest cavity before the eggs are laid and throughout the nestling period.

• The Brown-headed Nuthatch often joins mixed species foraging flocks in winter. In these flocks the nuthatch appears to compete for food with the Pine Warbler, another pine specialist species. The two birds displace each other from the preferred foraging spots, with the nuthatch attacking the warbler just as frequently as the warbler attacks the nuthatch.

Sources used to construct this page:

Withgott, J. H., and K. G. Smith. 1998. Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla). In The Birds of North America, No. 349 (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.