Sittellas

Sittellas are small, energetic woodland birds endemic to Australasia that belong to the unique family Neosittidae and resemble nuthatches. These birds are sedentary, partaking only in minor local movements and are recognized by their thin, downward-curved bills, which they adeptly use to snag insects from bark. They have an open cup-shaped nest situated in the crooks of tree branches. While originally divided into two genera, the modern classification merges them into a single genus, Daphoenositta, with the black sittella and the varied (including Papuan) sittella as its members. There is only one fossil species known, Daphoenositta trevorworthyi. Sittellas appeal with their distinctive plumage, including various subspecies of the varied sittella that often interbreed, blurring their differences. While they may appear visually similar to nuthatches, sittellas are more social and their nesting behavior is distinctive; they don't use cavities like nuthatches but rather build on branches. Past misclassifications have placed them into diverse bird families until DNA studies affirmed their own family standing, closely related to berrypeckers, longbills, and whistlers. Their diet consists largely of insects and arthropods, and they exhibit efficient foraging behavior on both trunks and branches of trees. Known for their cooperative breeding, especially in the case of the varied sittella in Australia, these birds often live in clans and engage in collective nest-building and chick-rearing. They are known to decorate their nests with bark for camouflage and show an extended parental care period after their young have fledged. The delicate vocalizations of sittellas, consisting mainly of contact calls, contribute to their charming character as social birds that play a distinctive role in the ecosystem of Australasian forests and woodlands.