White-breasted Nuthatch - Taxonomy

Taxonomy

The nuthatches are a genus, Sitta, of small passerine birds which derive their English name from the propensity of some species to wedge large insects or seeds into cracks, and then hack at them with their strong bills. Sitta is derived from sittē, the Ancient Greek for nuthatch, and carolinensis means "of Carolina" in Latin. The White-breasted Nuthatch was first described by English ornithologist John Latham in his 1790 work, the Index Ornithologicus.

Nuthatch taxonomy is complex, with geographically separated species sometimes closely resembling each other. The White-breasted Nuthatch has a similar appearance and contact call to the White-cheeked Nuthatch, Sitta leucopsis, of the Himalayas and was formerly considered to be conspecific.