Snowy-browed Nuthatch

Snowy-browed Nuthatch

Sitta villosa

Silhouette: Alan and Elaine Wilson (Modified) · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability <5% · Rare
at Seoul

In 3 days <5%

41 Verified sightings at Seoul
10 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
January Best month

About the Snowy-browed Nuthatch

The Chinese nuthatch or snowy-browed nuthatch (Sitta villosa) is a species of bird in the family Sittidae. It is a small nuthatch, measuring 11.5 cm (4.5 in) in length. The upperparts are blue-grey and the underparts from a dull buff-greyish to a cinnamon-orange; the cheeks are white. There is a marked sexual dimorphism: the adult male is distinguished by its very black crown, while that of the female is the same blue-grey as the back, or at most dark grey when the plumage is worn. In both sexes, a dark grey eyestripe extends in front of and behind the eye, topped by a clear white supercilium separating it from the crown. The song is variable, and composed of repetitions of small invariant whistles. The species feeds mainly on insects in summer and completes its diet with seeds and fruits. The nest is generally placed in the hole of a conifer. The pairs raises one brood per year, with five or six chicks.

The Chinese nuthatch lives from central China to the northeast of the country, as far as Korea and the extreme southeast of Russia. The Chinese nuthatch is phylogenetically related to the Corsican nuthatch (S. whiteheadi) and both species are themselves closely related to the North American red-breasted nuthatch (S. canadensis). Because the bird's range is so large and numbers do not appear to decline significantly, the International Union for Conservation of Nature considers the species to be of "least concern". Three regional subspecies are distinguished, with slightly different colours. Wikipedia →

Sounds

Call0:38

China · 2026

© Peter Boesman · XC1147816 · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Song1:28

China · 2007

© Geoff Carey · XC1054254 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Alarm call1:21

China · 2021

© PT xiao · XC624831 · CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Global Distribution

Parks Where Found

# Park Country Daily sighting probability
1 Jiuzhaigou National Park 🇨🇳 China
~10%

More parks will be added in future updates.

Cities Where Found

# City Country Daily sighting probability
1 Xining 🇨🇳 China
~20%
2 Beijing 🇨🇳 China
~20%
3 Seoul 🇰🇷 South Korea
<5%

Before you go

What are the chances of seeing a Snowy-browed Nuthatch in Seoul?

Rare

Under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Snowy-browed Nuthatch sighting in Seoul on a given day, based on 41 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 163rd most-seen of the 231 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to under 5%, if each day is a fresh chance.

When is the best time to see a Snowy-browed Nuthatch in Seoul?

Any time of year

In every month with enough records, under 5% of wildlife watchers report a Snowy-browed Nuthatch in Seoul on a given day, so our monthly data shows no clear season.

Is Seoul the best place to see a Snowy-browed Nuthatch?

3rd of 3

Of the 3 cities where we can rate Snowy-browed Nuthatch sightings, Seoul ranks 3rd at under 5%. The best odds are in Xining (China, about 20%) and Beijing (China, about 20%).

Where does the Snowy-browed Nuthatch sighting chance come from?

GBIF citizen-science records

It is estimated from how often the Snowy-browed Nuthatch is recorded against all the birds logged in Seoul (41 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.

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