Visual Search | Wizard | Browse

Bird name:

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Sitta pusillaOrder: PASSERIFORMES Family: Nuthatches (Sittidae)

Codes: Common Name: BHNU Scientific Name: SITPUS ITIS Taxonomic No.: 178785

Head

Topo Map: Tree-clinging-like Head

Bill Shape: All-purpose
Eye Color: Dark brown.
Head Pattern: No Data
Crown Color: Brown
Forehead Color: Brown
Nape Color: White with gray wash.
Throat Color: White
Cere color: No Data

Recommended Products:

Body

Topo Map: Tree-clinging-like Body

Length Range: 10-13 cm (4-5 in)
Weight: 11 g (0.4 oz)
Size: Size 1. Very Small (3 - 5 in)
Color: Blue, White, Brown, Gray, Buff
Underparts: Pale Buff
Upperparts: Blue-gray
Back Pattern: No Data
Belly Pattern: No Data
Breast Pattern: No Data

Flight

Topo Map: Tree-clinging-like Flight

Flight Pattern: Weak fluttering flight of short duration, with series of rapid wing beats followed by wings pulled in to sides, repeated.
Wingspan Range: 20-23 cm (8-9 in)
Wing Shape: Pointed-Wings
Tail Shape: Pointed Tail
Tail Pattern: Solid
Upper Tail: Blue-gray
Under Tail: Pale Buff
Leg Color: Black

Percevia^® Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

The Percevia field guides, database and search protocol patent pending.

The best bird guide and bird watching search engine to identify birds!

Bird Call Credits: The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Martyn Stewart, http://www.naturesound.org, Redmond, Washington USA. The reuse or copying of bird calls in this database is strictly forbidden.

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Brown-headed Nuthatch: Medium nuthatch, gray upperparts, brown cap, small, white nape patch, dark eye-line, white face, buff underparts. Wings and tail are gray. Legs and feet are black. Weak fluttering flight of short duration, alternates rapid wing beats with wings drawn to sides.

● Song: "pri-u, de-u, de-u", "bit-bit-bit", "dee-dee-dee"

● Foraging & Feeding: Brown-headed Nuthatch: Eats pine seeds, insects, and spiders. Forages over, around, and up and down branches, small twigs, and trunks, sometimes hanging upside down; caches seeds.

● Breeding & nesting: Brown-headed Nuthatch: Three to nine white eggs with red brown speckles are laid in a cavity nest made of soft bark shreds, wood chips, grass, wool, hair, and feathers, and built from 2 to 12 feet above the ground in a dead or live tree, bird box, stump, or old post. Female incubates eggs for about 14 days.

● Similar species: Brown-headed Nuthatch: White-breasted Nuthatch is larger and has black cap. Red-breasted Nuthatch has black cap and eyestripe and rust-brown underparts.

Flight Pattern

Weak fluttering flight of short duration, with series of rapid wing beats followed by wings pulled in to sides, repeated.

● Range & Habitat: Brown-headed Nuthatch: Resident in much of the southeastern U.S. Preferred habitats include coniferous and mixed forests.

^BreedingMonogamous, Cooperative

^PopulationFairly common

^MigrationNonmigratory

^Weight0.4 Ounces

Tree-clinging-like Head

Tree-clinging-like Body

Tree-clinging-like Flight

4 and 6 letter alpha codes

The four letter common name alpha code is is derived from the first two letters of the common first name and the first two letters of common last name. The six letter species name alpha code is derived from the first three letters of the scientific name (genus) and the first three letters of the scientific name (species). See (1) below for the rules used to create the codes..

Four-letter (for English common names) and six-letter (for scientific names) species alpha codes were developed by Pyle and DeSante (2003, North American Bird-Bander 28:64-79) to reflect A.O.U. taxonomy and nomenclature (A.O.U. 1998) as modified by Supplements 42 (Auk 117:847-858, 2000) and 43 (Auk 119:897-906, 2002). The list has been updated by Pyle and DeSante to reflect changes reported by the A.O.U from 2003 through 2006.

Field Guide to Birds of North America

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Head

Recommended Products:

Body

Flight

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Flight Pattern