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Nuthatches (Sittidae)

Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch (Sitta cinnamoventris) - HBW 13, p. 129

French: Sittelle de Blyth German: Zimtbauchkleiber Spanish: Trepador Ventricastaño
Other common names: Cinnamon-bellied Nuthatch

Taxonomy: Sitta cinnamoventris Blyth, 1842, Darjeeling, north India.
Forms a superspecies with S. europaea, S. nagaensis, S. cashmirensis, S. castanea and S. neglecta; often treated as conspecific with last two of these, but differs morphologically from both. Overlaps in range with S. nagaensis in parts of NE India and SE Asia, but the two replace each other altitudinally. Birds in SE Bangladesh presumed to belong to this species, rather than to S. castanea. Race almorae intergrades with nominate in EC Nepal. Four subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

  • almorae Kinnear & Whistler, 1930 - foothills of W & C Himalayas from Pakistan (Murree Hills and Azad Kashmir) E to N India (Himachal Pradesh, extreme N Haryana and Uttaranchal Pradesh) and EC Nepal.
  • cinnamoventris Blyth, 1842 - foothills from EC Nepal E to NE India (N West Bengal and most of Arunachal Pradesh, also hills of Meghalaya, Manipur and Mizoram), SE Bangladesh (Chittagong Hills), NE Myanmar (S to about Myitkyina) and S China (R Yingjiang, in extreme W Yunnan).
  • koelzi Vaurie, 1950 - NE India from SE Arunachal Pradesh (Patkai Range) S to Nagaland and S Assam (N Cachar), and adjacent NW Myanmar.
  • tonkinensis Kinnear, 1936 - S China (S Yunnan), NW Vietnam (including Cha Pa, Na Hang, Muong Moun), N Laos (S to at least Nape) and NW Thailand (Doi Hua Mot).

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