Pygmy Nuthatch

Sitta pygmaea

Order PASSERIFORMES - Family SITTIDAE

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1. Cool Facts
2. Description
3. Similar Species
4. Sound
5. Range
6. Habitat
7. Food
8. Behavior
9. Reproduction
10. Conservation Status
11. Other Names

A small, social, and noisy nuthatch of western forests.

Cool Facts

• Pygmy Nuthatch is one of only two nuthatch species in the world known to have helpers at the nest. Offspring from previous years help their parents raise young.

• Unique among songbirds, the Pygmy Nuthatch uses three energy-saving mechanisms on cold nights: it uses a protected roost site (hole in a tree), huddles with other nuthatches, and lets its body temperature drop (hypothermia).

• No records exist of Pygmy Nuthatches roosting alone. They always huddle in a group, sometimes with more than 100 in a single cavity.

Description

• Size: 9-11 cm (4-4 in)
• Weight: 9-11 g (0.32-0.39 ounces)

• Small nuthatch; climbs head-first down tree trunks.
• Crown gray-brown.
• Back gray.
• Belly buffy white.

• Dark eye-line marks cap.
• Pale spot on nape, most obvious in worn plumage.
• Face white or buffy white.
• Breast and belly dull buffy, blending into bluish gray on sides.
• Back, rump and tail bluish gray.
• Base of middle tail feathers white.
• White band in outer tail feathers.

Sex Differences

Sexes alike

Immature

Similar to adult, but crown and nape gray and only slightly different from color of back.

Similar Species

• Brown-headed Nuthatch with distinctly brown cap and no white at base of central tail feathers. Ranges do not overlap.
• Red-breasted Nuthatch larger, has white eyestripe, black or dark gray crown, and is reddish underneath.

Sound

Calls are shrill piping notes, "pip-pip--pip-pip-pip." Also high chipping and squeaky notes.

»listen to songs of this species

Range

Summer Range

Resident from southern British Columbia southward through the mountains to central Mexico, eastward to Black Hills of South Dakota. Patchy distribution follows the distribution of pine forests.

Habitat

Pine forests, especially ponderosa and similar long-needled pines. Prefers mature pine forests with dead trees and snags.

Food

Winter diet insects and seeds, mostly pine seeds. Summer diet mainly insects and spiders. Eats suet and sunflower seeds at feeders.

Behavior

Foraging

Forages in pines, throughout the entire tree. Gleans from foliage, probes in cracks and open pinecones, pries into crevices, and scales off loose bark. Wedges seeds into cracks in wood or bark and pecks seed open.

Reproduction

Nest Type

Nests in holes in trees; will use nest box. Nest cup of bark shreds, moss, grass, fur, feathers, and other soft material.

Egg Description

White, sparsely spotted with reddish brown, with heavier markings concentrated on larger end.

Clutch Size

Usually 5-9 eggs. Range: 5-12.

Condition at Hatching

Helpless and with some down.

Conservation Status

Pygmy Nuthatch serves as an indicator of forest health of ponderosa pine forests, and is listed in several states as a species of special concern. It is less common in forests heavily managed for timber.

Other Names

Petite sittelle, Sittelle pygmée (French)
Sita enana, Saltapalo enano (Spanish)

Sources used to construct this page:

Kingery, H. E., and C. K. Ghalambor. 2001. Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea). In The Birds of North America, No. 567. (A. Poole and F. Gill, eds.). The Birds of North America, Inc., Philadelphia, PA.