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The chestnut-vented nuthatch (''Sitta nagaensis'') is a
species In biology, a species is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of ...
of bird in the nuthatch family
Sittidae The nuthatches () constitute a genus, ''Sitta'', of small passerine birds belonging to the family Sittidae. Characterised by large heads, short tails, and powerful bills and feet, nuthatches advertise their territory using loud, simple songs. Mo ...
. It is a medium-sized nuthatch, measuring in length. The are a solid gray blue, with a markedly black
loral Loral may refer to: * Loral Corporation, contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation * Loral Space & Communications, satellite communications company * Loral GZ-22, a non-rigid airship * ...
stripe. The are uniform gray to buff from the throat to belly, with brick red on the flanks. The undertail is white with a rufous border. The chestnut-vented nuthatch utters different kinds of calls, which can sometimes sound like a
troglodyte A troglodyte is a human cave dweller, from the Greek 'hole, mouse-hole' and 'go in, dive in'. Troglodyte and derived forms may also refer to: Historiography * ''Troglodytae'' or ''Troglodyti'', an ancient group of people from the African Red ...
alarm, and its song is a monotonous, stereotypical crackle, typically '. Its ecology is poorly known, but it probably feeds on small
arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chitin, oft ...
and
seeds A seed is an Plant embryogenesis, embryonic plant enclosed in a testa (botany), protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, includ ...
, and the breeding season begins between March and May. The nest is typically located in a hole in the trunk of a tree, and the
clutch A clutch is a mechanical device that engages and disengages power transmission, especially from a drive shaft to a driven shaft. In the simplest application, clutches connect and disconnect two rotating shafts (drive shafts or line shafts ...
has two to five eggs. Chestnut-vented nuthatches are found in the northeast of India, in parts of
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
and south-central China, descending into eastern
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
and northwestern
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. Isolated populations also live in southern Laos and
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
. It mainly lives in
evergreen forests An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temper ...
or pine forests, but can also live in mixed or
deciduous forests In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, af ...
. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests and subtropical or tropical moist
montane forest Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucia ...
s. Its altitudinal distribution varies according to the localities, but ranges from . The species was described in 1874 by the British naturalist
Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen FRS FZS FRGS MBOU (6 July 1834 – 2 December 1923), known until 1854 as Henry Haversham Austen, was an English topographer, surveyor, naturalist and geologist. He explored the mountains ...
, who named it ''Sitta nagaensis'' in reference to the Naga Hills, where the type material was collected. It belongs to the ''europaea'' group of species, including the
Kashmir nuthatch The Kashmir nuthatch (''Sitta cashmirensis'') is a species of bird in the family Sittidae. It is found in the northernmost regions of the Indian subcontinent, primarily in the mid-altitudes of the Himalayas. The species ranges across Afghanistan ...
(''S. cashmirensis'') and the
Eurasian nuthatch The Eurasian nuthatch or wood nuthatch (''Sitta europaea'') is a small passerine bird found throughout the Palearctic and in Europe. Like other nuthatches, it is a short-tailed bird with a long bill, blue-gray upperparts and a black eye-stripe. ...
(''S. europaea'')—all of which build the entrance to their nests. The numbers of the species are not estimated but appear to be declining. However, the bird's range is relatively wide, and the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
considers the species of
least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. Th ...
.


Taxonomy

The chestnut-vented nuthatch was described as ''Sitta nagaensis'' in 1874 by the British naturalist
Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Haversham Godwin-Austen FRS FZS FRGS MBOU (6 July 1834 – 2 December 1923), known until 1854 as Henry Haversham Austen, was an English topographer, surveyor, naturalist and geologist. He explored the mountains ...
. Its species name is composed of ''naga'' and the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
suffix ''-ensis'', "that lives in, that inhabits," was given in reference to the area when the
type Type may refer to: Science and technology Computing * Typing, producing text via a keyboard, typewriter, etc. * Data type, collection of values used for computations. * File type * TYPE (DOS command), a command to display contents of a file. * Ty ...
of the species was collected, the Naga Hills. The chestnut-vented nuthatch is placed in the rarely-used
subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed betw ...
''Sitta'' (Linnaeus, 1758). In 2014, Eric Pasquet and colleagues published a
phylogeny A phylogenetic tree (also phylogeny or evolutionary tree Felsenstein J. (2004). ''Inferring Phylogenies'' Sinauer Associates: Sunderland, MA.) is a branching diagram or a tree showing the evolutionary relationships among various biological spe ...
based on examination of
nuclear Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics *Nuclear space * Nuclear ...
and mitochondrial DNA of 21 nuthatch species. The ''europaea'' group is related to the two nuthatches that live in rocky environments, the
western rock nuthatch The western rock nuthatch (''Sitta neumayer'') (sometimes known simply as rock nuthatch) is a small passerine bird which breeds from Croatia east through Greece and Turkey to Iran. This nuthatch is largely resident apart from some post-breeding di ...
(''S. neumayer'') and the eastern rock nuthatch (''S. tephronota''). Within the ''europaea'' group, the
white-tailed nuthatch The white-tailed nuthatch (''Sitta himalayensis'') is a species of bird in the family Sittidae. It ranges across the northern and northeastern parts of the Indian Subcontinent, existing mainly in the low-to-middle Himalayas, as well as associa ...
(''S. himalayensis'') and therefore probably the white-browed nuthatch (''S. victoriae''), which closely resembles it in terms of its
morphology Morphology, from the Greek and meaning "study of shape", may refer to: Disciplines *Morphology (archaeology), study of the shapes or forms of artifacts *Morphology (astronomy), study of the shape of astronomical objects such as nebulae, galaxies, ...
, although it was not included in the study, appear to be
basal Basal or basilar is a term meaning ''base'', ''bottom'', or ''minimum''. Science * Basal (anatomy), an anatomical term of location for features associated with the base of an organism or structure * Basal (medicine), a minimal level that is nec ...
, and the chestnut-vented nuthatch is closely related to the Eurasian nuthatch (''S. europaea'') and the
Kashmir nuthatch The Kashmir nuthatch (''Sitta cashmirensis'') is a species of bird in the family Sittidae. It is found in the northernmost regions of the Indian subcontinent, primarily in the mid-altitudes of the Himalayas. The species ranges across Afghanistan ...
(''S. cashmirensis'').


Subspecies

There are three recognized subspecies of the chestnut-vented nuthatch. * ''S. n. montium'' ( La Touche, 1899), described as a mountain shape by Irish ornithologist John La Touche as
protonym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both bota ...
of ''Sitta montium'', lives in eastern
Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...
, southern and eastern China,
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, and northwest
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...
. * ''S. n. nagaensis'' ( Godwin-Austen, 1874), lives in northeast India and western Myanmar. * ''S. n. grisiventris'' ( Kinnear, 1920), originally described under the
protonym In the scientific name of organisms, basionym or basyonym means the original name on which a new name is based; the author citation of the new name should include the authors of the basionym in parentheses. The term "basionym" is used in both bota ...
''Sitta europaea grisiventris'' since ''S. n. nagaesis'' was itself considered a subspecies of the Eurasian nuthatch (''S. europaea''), it lives in southwest Myanmar and southern Laos and
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
. The subspecies ''S. n. montium'' was considered to possibly be the result of hybridization between the chestnut-vented nuthatch and ''
Sitta europaea sinensis The Eurasian nuthatch or wood nuthatch (''Sitta europaea'') is a small passerine bird found throughout the Palearctic and in Europe. Like other nuthatches, it is a short-tailed bird with a long bill, blue-gray upperparts and a black eye-strip ...
'', or at least to be able to interbreed with it. This is possibly due to the fact that the
type series In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes the ...
of ''S. e. sinensis'' was composite and included a specimen of the chestnut-vented nuthatch. For these reasons, Jean-François Voisin and colleagues designated a
lectotype In biology, a type is a particular specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to anchor or centralizes th ...
in 2002 for the name ''Sitta sinensis'' ( Verreaux, 1871). The attribution of the populations of southwestern Myanmar and southern Indochina to the same subspecies, ''S. n. grisiventris'' with ''S. n. nagaensis'' interspersed between these populations in western Myanmar seems untenable and their taxonomy has yet to be verified.


Description


Plumage and measurements

The chestnut-vented nuthatch is a medium-sized nuthatch, measuring in length. The are a solid blue-gray from
crown A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, partic ...
to tail, with a marked black
loral Loral may refer to: * Loral Corporation, contractor founded in 1948 in New York by William Lorenz and Leon Alpert as Loral Electronics Corporation * Loral Space & Communications, satellite communications company * Loral GZ-22, a non-rigid airship * ...
line extending to the base of the wing. The are pale gray, more or less tinted buff-tinged depending on the subspecies or the wear of the
plumage Plumage ( "feather") is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, ...
; the dark brick-red back flanks contrast strongly with the rest of the underparts. The , which may be of the same color depending on the subspecies, have a large white border at the end of the feathers or a white patch near the tip. The species does not show marked
sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most an ...
. The male's rear flanks are deep brick-red, deeper and less orange than the undertail coverts, whereas the female's flanks are rufous, concolorous with the undertail coverts. Females also have duller underparts, and juveniles are more buff than adults with worn plumage. The
iris Iris most often refers to: *Iris (anatomy), part of the eye *Iris (mythology), a Greek goddess * ''Iris'' (plant), a genus of flowering plants * Iris (color), an ambiguous color term Iris or IRIS may also refer to: Arts and media Fictional ent ...
is brown to dark brown, the
bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...
is grayish-black to blackish with the base of the lower
mandible In anatomy, the mandible, lower jaw or jawbone is the largest, strongest and lowest bone in the human facial skeleton. It forms the lower jaw and holds the lower teeth in place. The mandible sits beneath the maxilla. It is the only movable bon ...
(and sometimes the base of the upper) slate-gray or blue-gray. The legs are dark brown, greenish or blue-gray, with almost black claws. Three subspecies are recognized, but variations are essentially clinal, with Chinese populations (''S. n. montium'') having buff underparts, which get duller and purer gray as they move southward in the species' distribution. In
Northeast India , native_name_lang = mni , settlement_type = , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , motto = , image_map = Northeast india.png , ...
and western Myanmar, ''S. n. nagaensis'' in fresh plumage is as buff as ''S. n. montium'' in worn plumage. In southern Vietnam and southwestern Myanmar, ''S. n. grisiventris'' has purer gray underparts than ''S. n. nagaensis''. Adults undergo a complete
moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...
after the breeding season, from May to June, and an incomplete moult occurs before it.


Similar species

The range of the chestnut-vented nuthatch overlaps with that of the
Burmese nuthatch The Burmese nuthatch (''Sitta neglecta''), also known as the neglected nuthatch, is a species of bird in the family Sittidae. It is found in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical dry fo ...
(''S. neglecta''). However, the chestnut-vented nuthatch is easily distinguished by the color of its underparts, and the lack of contrast between the sides of the head and the throat, whereas the other species has white chins, cheeks, and
parotid The parotid gland is a major salivary gland in many animals. In humans, the two parotid glands are present on either side of the mouth and in front of both ears. They are the largest of the salivary glands. Each parotid is wrapped around the ma ...
region contrasting with brick-red to orange-brown underparts. However, in the chestnut-vented nuthatch, some individuals in fresh plumage (especially in ''S. n. montium'') may have underparts almost as buff as some Burmese nuthatch females or juveniles. The chestnut-vented nuthatch can then be recognized by its darker, duller blue upperparts, by its red flanks contrasting with the buff, and by its undertail, with feathers edged with red giving a "scales" pattern, when they appear almost uniformly white in the Burmese nuthatch. The subspecies ''S. n. montium'' can also be confused with the subspecies ''S. e. sinensis'' of the Eurasian nuthatch (''S. europaea'') where they coexist in
Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of th ...
and
Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its c ...
. If the latter species has more orange underparts, some Eurasian females may be difficult to differentiate from chestnut-vented nuthatches in fresh plumage. The two species can be distinguished by their vocalizations, with chestnut-vented nuthatch lacking the characteristic singing ''dwip'' of the Euraisan nuthatch. Hybrids between these two taxa have been hypothesized, with montane populations of ''S. e. sinensis'' being, like the chestnut-vented nuthatch, grayer on the underside, darker above, and larger than lowland individuals. The chestnut-vented nuthatch, however, is even grayer, and does not have the whitish cheeks of the Eurasian nuthatch. In southwest China, the chestnut-vented nuthatch lives within the range of the
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 in length on average and w ...
(''S. yunnanensis''). However, the latter is smaller, has a thin white
supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...
, and has plain, pale buff underparts with no russet on the flanks. In northeastern India and northwestern Myanmar, the chestnut-vented nuthatch may be confused with the white-tailed nuthatch (''S. himalayensis''), the both species inhabit similar habitats. The white-tailed nuthatch, however, has a white spot on the top of the middle
rectrices Flight feathers (''Pennae volatus'') are the long, stiff, asymmetrically shaped, but symmetrically paired pennaceous feathers on the wings or tail of a bird; those on the wings are called remiges (), singular remex (), while those on the tai ...
, and has more orange underparts, without brick-red flanks or white spots on the undertail. The giant nuthatch (''S. magna''), whose distribution overlaps with that of the chestnut-vented nuthatch in India, Myanmar, and Thailand, differs from the latter in being much larger in size, having a finer , and having a
calotte Calotte may refer to: * Calotte (architecture), a round cavity or depression in architecture * Calotte or zucchetto, a plain skull cap, specifically those worn by ecclesiastics ** Calotte (Belgium), used among students at Belgian catholic universi ...
that is much lighter than the rest of the .


Ecology and behavior

The chestnut-vented nuthatch generally surveys alone or in pairs, or forms mixed-species foraging flocks outside of the breeding season. In winter, it can thus be observed in the company of different species of
tits TIT, Tit, Tits, or tit may refer to: Birds * Tit (bird) or Paridae, a large family of passerine birds * Bearded tit, a small reed-bed passerine bird * Long-tailed tits or Aegithalidae, a family of passerine birds with long tails * Tit-babble ...
(Paridae) such as the yellow-cheeked tit (''Maclolophus spilonotus''), or
Aegithalidae The bushtits or long-tailed tits, are a family, Aegithalidae, of small passerine birds with long tails, compared to their size. The family contains 13 species in three genera, all but one of which are found in Eurasia. Bushtits are active birds, ...
,
woodpeckers Woodpeckers are part of the bird family Picidae, which also includes the piculets, wrynecks, and sapsuckers. Members of this family are found worldwide, except for Australia, New Guinea, New Zealand, Madagascar, and the extreme polar region ...
, alcippes, and minlas.


Vocalizations

The chestnut-vented nuthutch's calls are varied, with squeaky ''sit'' or ''sit-sit'' sounds, repeated more or less rapidly with various inflections and in irregular series. Similar but drier ''tchip'' or ''tchit'' sounds are sometimes made, often in a
trill TRILL (Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links) is an Internet Standard implemented by devices called TRILL switches. TRILL combines techniques from bridging and routing, and is the application of link-state routing to the VLAN-aware cust ...
reminiscent of the alarm of the
winter wren The winter wren (''Troglodytes hiemalis'') is a very small North American bird and a member of the mainly New World wren family Troglodytidae. It was once lumped with the Pacific wren (''Troglodytes pacificus'') of western North America and th ...
(''Troglodytes hiemalis''). The alarm calls of the chestnut-vented nuthatch are reported in English-language literature as nasal sounds in ''quir'', ''kner'' or ''mew'', as well as an emphatic, metallic ''tsit'', sometimes doubled or repeated in quick series. The song is a stereotyped, monotonous
rattle Rattle may refer to: Instruments * Crotalus (liturgy), a liturgical percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion instrument), a type of percussion instrument * Rattle (percussion beater), a part of some percussion instruments * Ratchet (instru ...
or
tremolo In music, ''tremolo'' (), or ''tremolando'' (), is a trembling effect. There are two types of tremolo. The first is a rapid reiteration: * Of a single note, particularly used on bowed string instruments, by rapidly moving the bow back and fo ...
in '' ...'' or '' ...'', lasting less than a second or sometimes slowed down to '' ...'' or ' reminiscent of the song of the Eurasian nuthatch.


Food

The chestnut-vented nuthatch often forages for food on the ground, on rocks, old stumps, or on trees. No specific information about the diet is known, but the species probably feeds on small
arthropods Arthropods (, (gen. ποδός)) are invertebrate animals with an exoskeleton, a segmented body, and paired jointed appendages. Arthropods form the phylum Arthropoda. They are distinguished by their jointed limbs and cuticle made of chitin, oft ...
and
seeds A seed is an Plant embryogenesis, embryonic plant enclosed in a testa (botany), protective outer covering, along with a food reserve. The formation of the seed is a part of the process of reproduction in seed plants, the spermatophytes, includ ...
.


Breeding

Although the breeding season varies by region, it generally takes place in Thailand from March to May, March to June for
India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...
, April to early June for eastern Myanmar, and April to May in Fujian. On
Nat Ma Taung Nat Ma Taung ( my, နတ်မတောင်; Khaw-nu-soum or Khonuamthung in Chin), also known as Mount Victoria, is the highest mountain in the Chin State of western Burma. Geography With a height of above sea level and a prominence of , Na ...
, juveniles have been observed as early as March 31. According to observations made in Thailand and Vietnam, the construction of the nest begins in January. It is located at a height of about in the hole of a tree, or in a stump. The chestnut-vented nuthatch, like the Eurasian nuthatch and other species of the family, may line the entrance of a cavity with mud to reduce the opening and thus avoid
predation Predation is a biological interaction In ecology, a biological interaction is the effect that a pair of organisms living together in a community have on each other. They can be either of the same species (intraspecific interactions), or o ...
of the brood. The bottom of the nest is lined with pieces of bark and
moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...
and topped with hair. Two to five eggs are laid, averaging in ''S. n. nagaensis'' and in ''S. n. montium''. They are white, with red dots on a mottled reddish-purple background, and are mainly concentrated at the larger end of the egg.


Distribution and habitat

The chestnut-vented nuthatch lives from Tibet to the
South Central Coast South Central Coast ( vi, Duyên hải Nam Trung Bộ, links=no) or (South Central Region) is one of the regions of Vietnam. It consists of the independent municipality of Đà Nẵng and seven other provinces. The two southern provinces Ninh ...
of
Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
. In India, it is found only in the far eastern states of
Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (, ) is a state in Northeastern India. It was formed from the erstwhile North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and became a state on 20 February 1987. It borders the states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It share ...
,
Nagaland Nagaland () is a landlocked States and union territories of India, state in the northeast India, northeastern region of India. It is bordered by the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh to the north, Assam to the west, Manipur to the south and the ...
,
Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a States and territories of India, state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It ...
,
Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
and
Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: (a) the United Khasi Hills and Jai ...
. The species lives in the
Chin Hills The Chin Hills are a range of mountains in Chin State, northwestern Burma (Myanmar), that extends northward into India's Manipur state. Geography The highest peak in the Chin Hills is Khonu Msung, or Mount Victoria, in southern Chin State, whi ...
of western
Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
, but most of its distribution in Myanmar is in the eastern half of the country, from Kachin State to at least
Shan State Shan State ( my, ရှမ်းပြည်နယ်, ; shn, မိူင်းတႆး, italics=no) also known by the endonyms Shanland, Muang Tai, and Tailong, is a state of Myanmar. Shan State borders China (Yunnan) to the north, Laos ( L ...
, spilling over into western Thailand. The species nests in Tibet and south-central China, from western Sichuan to
Yunnan Yunnan , () is a landlocked province in the southwest of the People's Republic of China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 48.3 million (as of 2018). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the ...
and marginally in southwestern
Guizhou Guizhou (; formerly Kweichow) is a landlocked province in the southwest region of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Guiyang, in the center of the province. Guizhou borders the autonomous region of Guangxi to t ...
. An isolated Chinese population also lives in northwestern Fujian, on
Mount Huanggang Mount Huanggang () is the highest peak in the UNESCO designated Wuyi Mountains, China. It separates and is the highest point of both Fujian and Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in th ...
. Two other isolated populations from the southernmost part of the species' distribution, one occurring in southern Vietnam on the Đà Lạt Plateau, another being reported in Laos on the
Bolaven Plateau The Bolaven Plateau is an elevated region in southern Laos. Most of the plateau is located within Champasak Province of Laos, though the edges of the plateau are also located in Salavan, Sekong and Attapeu Provinces. It is located betwee ...
. The chestnut-vented nuthatch usually inhabits
evergreen forests An evergreen forest is a forest made up of evergreen trees. They occur across a wide range of climatic zones, and include trees such as conifers and holly in cold climates, eucalyptus, Live oak, acacias, magnolia, and banksia in more temper ...
of the uplands, or forests and pine patches growing on dry ridges in the middle of evergreen forests. Locally, it also occurs in
deciduous forests In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, af ...
in northeastern India, in '' Quercus subsericea'' oak forests and alder groves in northeastern Myanmar,
spruce A spruce is a tree of the genus ''Picea'' (), a genus of about 35 species of coniferous evergreen trees in the family Pinaceae, found in the northern temperate and boreal ( taiga) regions of the Earth. ''Picea'' is the sole genus in the sub ...
forests (''Picea'' sp.),
fir Firs (''Abies'') are a genus of 48–56 species of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae. They are found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The genus is most closely related to ...
forests (''Abies'' sp.) or
rhododendron ''Rhododendron'' (; from Ancient Greek ''rhódon'' "rose" and ''déndron'' "tree") is a very large genus of about 1,024 species of woody plants in the heath family (Ericaceae). They can be either evergreen or deciduous. Most species are nativ ...
stands in Yunnan, or poplar (''Populus'' sp.) and
walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus '' Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a tru ...
(''Juglans'' sp.) in Sichuan. The altitudinal distribution ranges from in India, Thailand, and Myanmar, occasionally occurring up to in the latter. It also occurs from in Tibet and Sichuan and up to in Yunnan. The population in southern Vietnam lives between .


Status and threats

The population of the chestnut-vented nuthatch is declining due to
habitat destruction Habitat destruction (also termed habitat loss and habitat reduction) is the process by which a natural habitat becomes incapable of supporting its native species. The organisms that previously inhabited the site are displaced or dead, thereby ...
and fragmentation, but its range is large and was estimated to be 3.8 million km2 (1.5 million square miles), and the species is generally common throughout its range. For these reasons, the chestnut-vented nuthatch is considered to be of
least concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. Th ...
by the
International Union for the Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
. A study carried out in 2009 tried to predict the impact of
climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
on the distribution of several species of nuthatches in Asia by modeling two scenarios. It predicted that the chestnut-vented nuthatch could see its distribution decrease between the 2040s and 2069 by 15.9 to 17.4%.


Footnotes


References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q902434 chestnut-vented nuthatch Birds of Myanmar Birds of Yunnan chestnut-vented nuthatch Taxonomy articles created by Polbot