Nuthatches (Sittidae)

Chinese Nuthatch (Sitta villosa) - HBW 13, p. 135

French: Sittelle de Chine German: Chinakleiber Spanish: Trepador Chino
Other common names: Snowy-browed/Black-headed Nuthatch

Taxonomy: Sitta villosa J. Verreaux, 1865, China north of Beijing.
A member of a species group that contains also S. whiteheadi, S. ledanti, S. krueperi, S. yunnanensis and S. canadensis, and all sometimes thought to form a superspecies. Present species formerly treated as conspecific with S. whiteheadi and S. canadensis; close relationship with these two supported by recent data on mitochondrial DNA, which indicate also a more distant relationship to S. krueperi and S. ledanti (no S. yunnanensis material was available for analysis). A nesting pair of nuthatches resembling present species and S. whiteheadi found at 2000 m in Altai Mts of extreme S Siberia (at Aktru, S of Karay) in 2006; this could represent a remarkable range extension of either species, or an as yet undescribed species, but requires verification. Geographical variation partly clinal, birds in W part of range largest and darkest below and those in E smallest and palest. Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies and Distribution:

bangsi Stresemann, 1929 - NC China in NE Qinghai (Daban Shan), adjacent C & S Gansu (E Qilian Shan S to N Min Shan), extreme N Sichuan and, probably disjunctly, W Ningxia (Helan Shan).
villosa J. Verreaux, 1865 - NE China in N Hebei (S at least to mountains N of Beidaihe and Eastern Qing Tombs), Beijing Municipality and W Shanxi (Kelan S to Zhongtiao Shan).
corea Ogilvie-Grant, 1906 - Russian Far East (S Ussuriland S of 45° N, and possibly S Sakhalin), extreme N Korea (around Mt Paektu, in Changbai Shan, and scattered from N Hamgyong, Yanggang and Pyongan S to Pyongyang) and NE China (S Jilin and S Liaoning).