Species
The species diversity for Sittidae is greatest in southern Asia (possibly the original home of this family), where about 15 species occur, but it has representatives across much of the Northern Hemisphere. The currently recognised nuthatch species are tabulated below.
| Species in taxonomic sequence | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Common and binomial names |
Image | Description | Range (population if known) |
| Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) |
14 cm (5.5 in) long, black eye stripe, blue-grey upper parts, reddish and/or white underparts depending on subspecies. | Temperate Eurasia (10 million) |
|
| Chestnut-vented Nuthatch (Sitta nagaensis) |
12.5–14 cm (5–5.5 in) long, mostly pale grey upper parts and mostly whitish underparts, dark eye stripe. | Northeast India east to northwest Thailand | |
| Kashmir Nuthatch (Sitta cashmirensis) |
14 cm (5.5 in) long, mostly greyish upper parts, reddish underparts with a paler throat and chin. | Eastern Afghanistan to western Nepal | |
| Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch (Sitta cinnamoventris)) |
13 cm (5.25 in) long, colours vary between the subspecies. | Foothills of the Himalayas from northeast India to western Yunnan and Thailand. | |
| Indian Nuthatch (Sitta castanea) |
13 cm (5.25 in) long, colours vary between the subspecies. | Northern and central India. | |
| White-tailed Nuthatch (Sitta himalayensis) |
12 cm (4.75 in) long, smaller bill than S. cashmirensis, rufous-orange underparts with unmarked bright rufous undertail-coverts, white on the upper tail coverts is difficult to see in the field. | Himalayas from northeast India to southwest China, locally east to Vietnam | |
| White-browed Nuthatch (Sitta victoriae) |
11.5 cm (4.5 in) long, greyish upper parts and mostly whitish underparts. | Endemic to Burma. | |
| Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea) |
10 cm (4 in) long, grey cap, blue-grey upper parts, whitish underparts, whitish spot on the nape. | Western North America from British Columbia to southwest Mexico (2.3 million) |
|
| Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) |
10.5 cm (4 in) long, brown cap with narrow black eye stripe and buff white cheeks, chin, and belly, wings are bluish-grey, small white spot at the nape of the neck. | Southeast United States and the Bahamas (1.5 million) |
|
| Corsican Nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi) |
12 cm (4.75 in) long, blue-grey above, and buff below. Male has a black crown and eye stripe separated by a white supercilium; the female has a grey crown and eye stripe. | Endemic to Corsica (3,000–9,000 pairs) |
|
| Algerian Nuthatch (Sitta ledanti) |
13.5 cm (5.5 in) long, blue-grey above, and buff below. Male has a black crown and eye stripe separated by a white supercilium; female has a grey crown and eye stripe. | Endemic to northeast Algeria (Fewer than 1,000 pairs) |
|
| Krüper's Nuthatch (Sitta krueperi) |
11.5–12.5 cm (4.5–5 in) long, whitish underparts with a reddish throat, mostly grey upper parts. | Turkey, Georgia, Russia and on the Greek island of Lesvos. (80,000–170,000 pairs) |
|
| Chinese Nuthatch (Sitta villosa) |
11.5 cm (4.25 in) long, greyish upper parts and pinkish underparts. | China, North Korea, and South Korea | |
| Yunnan Nuthatch (Sitta yunnanensis) |
12 cm (4.75 in) long, greyish upper parts and whitish underparts. | Endemic to southwest China | |
| Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) |
11 cm (4 in) long, blue-grey upper parts, with reddish underparts, white face with a black eye stripe, white throat, a straight grey bill and a black crown. | Western and northern temperate North America, winters across much of the US and southern Canada (18 million) |
|
| White-cheeked Nuthatch (Sitta leucopsis) |
13 cm (5 in) long, white cheeks, chin, throat, and underparts, upper parts mostly dark grey. | Eastern Afghanistan to western Nepal and western China (10 million) |
|
| White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) |
13–14 cm (5–6 in) long, the white of the face completely surrounds the eye, face and the underparts are white, upper parts are mostly pale blue-grey. | North America from southern Canada to Mexico | |
| Western Rock Nuthatch (Sitta neumayer) |
13.5 cm (5.5 in) long. white throat and underparts shading to buff on the belly. The shade of grey upper parts and the darkness of the eye stripe vary between the three subspecies. | The Balkans east through Greece and Turkey to Iran (130,000) |
|
| Eastern Rock Nuthatch (Sitta tephronota) |
16–18 cm (6.25–7 in) long, greyish upper parts and whitish underparts, pinkish rump. | Northern Iraq and western Iran east through Central Asia (43,000–100,000 in Europe) |
|
| Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (Sitta frontalis) |
12.5 cm (5 in) long, violet-blue above, with lavender cheeks, beige underparts and a whitish throat, bill is red, black patch on forehead. | India and Sri Lanka through Southeast Asia to Indonesia | |
| Yellow-billed Nuthatch (Sitta solangiae) |
12.5–13.5 cm (5–5.5 in) long, white underparts, bluish upper parts, yellow beak. | Vietnam and Hainan Island, China | |
| Sulphur-billed Nuthatch (Sitta oenochlamys) |
12.5 cm (5 in) long, pinkish underparts, yellow beak, bluish upper parts. | Endemic to the Philippines | |
| Blue Nuthatch (Sitta azurea) |
13.5 cm (5.25 in) long, greyish upper parts and whitish underparts. | Malaysia, Sumatra and Java | |
| Giant Nuthatch (Sitta magna) |
. | 19.5 cm (7.75 in) long, greyish upper parts and whitish underparts. | China, Burma, and Thailand. |
| Beautiful Nuthatch (Sitta formosa) |
16.5 cm (6.5 in) long, black-backed with white streaking, bright blue upper back, rump and shoulders, dull orange underparts and paler face. | Northeast India and Burma and locally in southern China and northern Southeast Asia | |
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