Yunnan Nuthatch

The Yunnan nuthatch (Sitta yunnanensis) is a bird species in the nuthatch family Sittidae. It was first described by William Robert Ogilvie-Grant in 1900 based on a male holotype. It is a small nuthatch, measuring 12 cm in length on average and weighs between 7.5 and 13 g. The grey-blue upperparts contrast with the light, smooth, buffy lowerparts. It has a fine white eyebrow above a black eyestripe, which is distinct when the plumage is fresh, and exhibits a small degree of sexual dimorphism. A noisy bird, it produces simple, nasal sounds, sometimes in repetitive series. Its ecology is not well-known, but it feeds on insects that it finds on pine branches. It can be found in the prefectures of Yunnan, Sichuan, and Guizhou in Southwest China, where it prefers sparsely forested pine forests and avoids dense spruce and fir forests. It is listed as a near-threatened species on the IUCN Red List and it is generally rare but can be locally common. It has a small range of 170,000 square km.