Beautiful Nuthatch Sitta formosa Scientific name definitions

16·5 cm. A large nuthatch with highly distinctive plumage coloration and pattern. Has forehead to mantle black, feathers of forehead finely tipped off-white and those of crown to upper mantle tipped lilac-white to cornflower-blue (often white on nape and upper mantle), forming streaks; lores and supercilium off-white, variably washed cinnamon-orange and with some black streaking, irregular dark eyestripe behind eye; scapulars and back to uppertail-coverts sky-blue, longest uppertail-coverts sometimes tipped white, black centres and grey bases of feathers sometimes visible (as grey mottling and occasional black spot); lesser upperwing-coverts blue, median coverts black with grey base and white fringe (fringe tinged blue on outer web), greater coverts black with grey-blue base and white tip and with very fine blue fringe, alula and primary coverts black, latter fringed violet-blue; flight-feathers black, tertials broadly fringed and tipped dull grey-blue, extreme fringe on inner two tertials white; secondaries fringed sky-blue; primaries fringed violet-blue (confined to basal half on outer primaries); central tail feathers grey-washed sky-blue with black central stripe (not reaching tip), other rectrices black, tipped grey-blue and fringed blue, tips becoming broader but fringes reduced towards outer tail feathers (fringe very narrow and restricted to distal half of feather on T5), outer three feather pairs with white subterminal spot on inner web; chin, throat and ear-coverts off-white, side of neck and underparts cinnamon-orange , deepest on vent and flanks, paler and buffer on undertail-coverts, thighs sooty brown; axillaries dark grey, narrowly fringed grey-buff, underwing-coverts black, contrasting diagonal white stripe at base of primaries; iris reddish-brown to dark brown; bill black, whitish at base of lower mandible; legs yellowish-brown, olive-brown or greenish-horn. Sexes alike. Juvenile resembles adult, but face and lores blacker, crown and upper mantle more densely spotted turquoise-blue, and underparts, especially breast, perhaps somewhat paler and whiter.

NE India (NE West Bengal, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Assam), S Bhutan, N, W & E Myanmar (Kachin, Mt Sarameti, Arakan Hills, and Salween–Mekong watershed E of Mong Hang), S China (Huanglianshan Nature Reserve, in S Yunnan), N Thailand (Doi Phu Kha National Park, in Nan Province), N & EC Laos (Annamite Range) and N Vietnam (scattered localities in N Tonkin). Records in NE Bangladesh and Khasi Hills in Meghalaya (NE India) require confirmation (2 Rasmussen, P. C., and J. C. Anderton (2012). Birds of South Asia: the Ripley Guide. Volumes 1 and 2. Second edition. National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., USA, Smithsonian Institution, Michigan State University, Ann Arbor, MI, USA, and Lynx Edicions, Barcelona, Spain. Close ).

Mature subtropical broadleaf forest with large, spreading epiphyte-laden trees; reported also from open country with scattered trees in Myanmar. In EC Laos appears to be associated with Fujian cypress (Fokienia hodginsii), but such an association not apparent elsewhere. Altitudinal distribution not yet clarified. In E Himalayas recorded at 300–2135 m, with many spring records c. 1400–1600 m, and breeding as low as 300 m in Namdapha National Park (Arunachal Pradesh); in Myanmar recorded at 600–2135 m, in Vietnam and Laos at 950–2000 m (optimum zone apparently 1500–2000 m), and in S China noted at 1720 m in Apr and 1900 m in Jun; a winter record in Thailand was at 2290 m.

Resident.

Poorly known. Food insects. Found singly, in pairs and in parties of 4–6 individuals, occasionally up to ten and once even 21 together; in Apr in Bhutan does not join flocks, but otherwise often associated with mixed-species foraging flocks. Usually forages unhurriedly in middle and upper canopies of tall trees; works through a few trees and then often flies considerable distance to others. Investigates mosses, lichens, orchids and other epiphytes; also gleans items from trunks and branches, with preference for larger branches.

Poorly known. Season Apr–May/Jun in NE India, and fledged young being fed in late Apr in N Thailand; reported as being most vocal in Feb–Mar in Bhutan. Nest of leaves and bark chips, lined with pad of fur, especially that of bamboo rat (Rhizomyinae), placed in hole 2–8 m above ground in tree, entrance hole (when too large) reduced with clay “masonry”. Clutch 4–6 eggs, white with small dark red specks and spots, mean size 20·8 × 15·3 mm. No other information.

VULNERABLE. Scarce to rare and very locally distributed throughout range. Global range estimated at 376,000 km², with total population of fewer than 10,000 indi­viduals, and declining. Recent records suggest that Bhutan , Arunachal Pradesh (in NE India), N Myanmar and Laos support the most important populations, but even in these areas species is generally scarce to rare (e.g. in Bhutan pairs at five sites along 20 km of road); probably commoner, at least locally, in Arunachal Pradesh, especially around Namdapha and at Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary, and in adjacent N Myanmar. In NE India, recorded from West Bengal (Buxa Tiger Reserve, but no recent records Darjeeling), recent records from Arunachal Pradesh at Sessa Orchid Sanctuary, Eaglenest Wildlife Sanctuary (Sesni), Mouling National Park, Etalin (Abor and Mishmi Hills) and Namdapha area (Tirap), and from Assam in Barail Range (with old records from N Cachar Hills); old records from Sikkim, Nagaland and Manipur, but reported occurrence in Meghalaya (Khasia Hills) requires confirmation. Many recent records from Bhutan, especially in C & E parts. Reported as occurring in Chittagong region of Bangladesh, but no confirmed records for that country. Few recent records from Myanmar, but has been found in far N in Kachin (Pangmandin S to Laukkaung), in NW in upper Chindwin (Mt Sarameti, on Indian border), in W in Arakan Hills, and in E in the Salween-Mekong watershed E of Mong Hang. Status in China uncertain; recorded in 1972 and 1985 in Huanglianshan Nature Reserve (in Ailao Shan), in S Yunnan, but no other confirmed sightings. In N Thailand one record in Jan 1986 (Doi Pha Hom Pok), but in 2003 found to be breeding on Doi Dong Ya Wai, in Doi Phu Kha National Park (in Nan province). In N Indochina, found in Laos from Phou Louey S in Annamite Highlands to Ban Navang, and in Vietnam recorded from scattered localities around Mt Fan Si Pan (in W Tonkin) and at Mt Tay Con Linh, Pu Tha Ca and Khau Ria (in E Tonkin). In many areas, this species has always been considered rare; reasons for this apparent natural scarcity obscure, but it may have very specialized habitat needs. It has, however, undoubtedly been adversely affected by forest destruction, degradation and fragmentation, predominantly as a result of shifting cultivation, but more locally because of large-scale timber extraction (e.g. logging of valuable Fokienia hodginsii in Laos and Vietnam) and overgrazing, burning and wood-cutting (NE India).