Pygmy nuthatch
Sitta pygmaea
Identification Tips:
- 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.