Snowy-browed Nuthatch

Snowy-browed Nuthatch

Sitta villosa

Silhouette: Alan and Elaine Wilson (Modified) · PhyloPic

LCLeast ConcernNTVUENCR
Daily sighting probability ~20% · Possible
at Xining

In 3 days ~60% in a week ~90%

17 Verified sightings at Xining
10 In 1 park From 2019 to 2026
April 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 Xining?

Possible

About 20% of wildlife watchers report a Snowy-browed Nuthatch sighting in Xining on a given day, based on 17 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the 12th most-seen of the 38 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 60%, and over a week to about 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.

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

Yes

Of the 3 cities where we can rate Snowy-browed Nuthatch sightings, Xining has the highest daily chance: about 20%. Next come Beijing (China, about 20%) and Seoul (South Korea, under 5%).

Which relatives of the Snowy-browed Nuthatch live in Xining?

Same order: Passeriformes

The closest relatives of the Snowy-browed Nuthatch that you can see in Xining (order Passeriformes, Perching Birds) are Eurasian Tree Sparrow (about 80%), Cinereous Tit (about 60%) and Oriental Magpie (about 50%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.

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 Xining (17 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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