Pygmy nuthatch Sitta pygmaea

Identification Tips:

• Length: 3.5 inches
• Straight thin bill
• Gray-brown crown
• White patch on nape
• White lower face, throat and underparts
• Blue-gray upperparts
• Short tail
• Sexes similar
• Feeds by hopping along tree trunks and branches often hanging upside down
• Most often found in pine trees
• Range restricted to western United States

Similar species:

Because of its unique feeding strategy, the Pygmy Nuthatch is most likely to confused with other nuthatches. Both White-breasted and Red-breasted Nuthatches have black, not brown, crowns and lack the pale spot on the nape. Brown-headed Nuthatch is very similar but their ranges do not overlap.

Length and wingspan from: Robbins, C.S., Bruun, B., Zim, H.S., (1966). Birds of North America. New York: Western Publishing Company, Inc.