White-tailed nuthatch
Species of bird
title: "White-tailed nuthatch" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["nuthatches", "birds-of-north-india", "birds-of-nepal", "birds-of-eastern-himalaya", "birds-of-myanmar", "birds-described-in-1835", "taxonomy-articles-created-by-polbot"] description: "Species of bird" topic_path: "geography/india" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_nuthatch" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Species of bird ::
| name = White-tailed nuthatch | image = White-tailed Nuthatch, Nibuwatar, Nepal 1.jpg | image_caption = In Nibuwatar, Nepal | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = | taxon = Sitta himalayensis | authority = Jardine & Selby, 1835 | synonyms =
The white-tailed nuthatch (Sitta himalayensis) is a species of bird in the family Sittidae. It ranges across the northern and northeastern parts of the Indian subcontinent, existing mainly in the low-to-middle Himalayas, as well as associated mountain ranges. It is found in Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Tibet and Thailand.
Description and ecology
It is 12 cm long, slightly smaller than the other related Himalayan nuthatches, and may be identified by the buff underside, smaller beak than in the Kashmir nuthatch (S. cashmirensis), and paler blue-grey mantle than others except for Kashmir nuthatch. The white patch on the centre of the upper tail coverts is difficult to see in the field. It has a small bill and pale orangey underparts with unmarked bright rufous undertail-coverts. The black eyestripe is broader than that of Kashmir nuthatch, and flared wider behind the eye.
It is resident in the sub-Himalayan range from 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.
Habitat
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/White-tailed_Nuthatch_in_Lava_September_2025_by_Tisha_Mukherjee_03.jpg" caption="''Sitta himalayensis'' with food in [[Lava]], West Bengal, India."] ::
Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland broadleaf forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests; it breeds at 1,500–3,400 m altitude, descending in winter to as low as 920 m.
References
References
- BirdLife International. (2016). "''Sitta himalayensis''".
- Kazmierczak, Krys. (2000). "A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent". Yale University Press.
- (2005). "Birds of South Asia". Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions.
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::