Pygmy Nuthatch
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sittidae
Genus: Sitta
Species: pygmaea
**Audio Comming Soon**
Description
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Length: 4.25"
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Wing span: 7.75"
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Weight: 0.37oz (10.5 grams)
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Small nuthatch; climbs head-first down tree trunks
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Crown is gray-brown, gray back & buffy white belly
Factoids:
- A small, social, and noisy nuthatch of western forests
- They get their common name from their habit of jamming large nuts and acorns into tree bark, then whacking them with their sharp bill to “hatch” out the seed from the inside
- Pygmy Nuthatch is one of only two nuthatch species in the world known to have helpers at the nest. Offspring from previous years help their parents raise young
- Unique among songbirds, the Pygmy Nuthatch uses three energy-saving mechanisms on cold nights: it uses a protected roost site (hole in a tree), huddles with other nuthatches, and lets its body temperature drop (hypothermia)
- No records exist of Pygmy Nuthatches roosting alone. They always huddle in a group, sometimes with more than 100 in a single cavity
All photographs and audio clips are ©Jamie Mullin 2006
Sources: Cornell Lab of Ornithology & The Sibley Guide to Birds.
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