Sitta pygmaea
Silhouette: Alan and Elaine Wilson (Modified) · PhyloPic
In 3 days ~90% in a week >90%
The pygmy nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea) is a tiny songbird, native to western North America. The pygmy nuthatch is 9–11 cm (3.5–4.3 in) long and with a wingspan of 19.7 cm (7.8 in), and weighs 9.3–11.4 g (0.33–0.40 oz). It ranges from southern British Columbia south through various discontinuous parts of the western U.S. (northwest U.S., Sierra Nevada range, southern Rockies, etc.), to central Mexico. It is usually found in pines (especially ponderosa pine), douglas-fir, and other conifers. Pygmy nuthatches clamber acrobatically in the foliage of these trees, feeding on insects and seeds; less often they creep along limbs or the trunk like bigger nuthatches.
Pygmy nuthatches nest in cavities in dead stubs of conifers, lining the bottom of the cavity with pine cone scales, plant fibers, and other soft plant and animal materials. They may fill cracks or crevices around the entrance with fur; the function of this behavior is unknown. The female lays 4–9 eggs, which are white with fine reddish-brown spotting. She does most of the incubation, which lasts about 16 days. The young leave the nest about 22 days after hatching.
This species is highly gregarious. A nesting pair may... Wikipedia →
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rocky Mountain National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Grand Canyon National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Yosemite National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Zion National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Guadalupe Mountains National Park | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 6 | Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 7 | Glacier National Park | 🇺🇸 United States |
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | San Francisco | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 2 | Minneapolis [Saint Paul] | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 3 | Denver | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 4 | Portland | 🇺🇸 United States | |
| 5 | Mexico City | 🇲🇽 México | |
| 6 | Seattle | 🇺🇸 United States |
Likely
About 60% of wildlife watchers report a Pygmy Nuthatch sighting in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, based on 7,439 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data from 2019 to 2026. It is the 5th most-seen of the 223 birds we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 90%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
January–April and October–November
In those months about 80% of wildlife watchers report a Pygmy Nuthatch in Rocky Mountain National Park on a given day, against about 50% in June and July, the lowest months.
Between 8 and 11 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Pygmy Nuthatch sightings with a recorded time, and about 8 in 10 of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is a daytime animal.
Yes
Of the 7 parks where we can rate Pygmy Nuthatch sightings, Rocky Mountain National Park has the highest daily chance: about 60%. Next come Grand Canyon National Park (United States, about 30%) and Yosemite National Park (United States, about 10%).
Same genus: Sitta
The closest relatives of the Pygmy Nuthatch that you can see in Rocky Mountain National Park (genus Sitta, Nuthatches) are White-breasted Nuthatch (about 40%) and Red-breasted Nuthatch (about 30%), with each one's daily chance of a sighting.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Pygmy Nuthatch is recorded against all the birds logged in Rocky Mountain National Park (7,439 verified sightings from 2019 to 2026), 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.
