Bird Album
Beautiful Nuthatch
Sitta formosa Blyth, 1843
16 cmLength21 gWeight
This large nuthatch has black and sky-blue upperparts and orange underparts.
Busiest months: April · Most records: Bhutan, China
How to identify
Field marks
- Sky-blue scapulars, back and rump
- Black crown with pale blue and white streaks
- Orange-cinnamon underparts
Male, female and young
Sexes similar in plumage; juveniles closely resemble adults, but have blue rather than white streaks on the upper back and paler underparts overall, especially on the breast.
Voice
The song is low-pitched and sweet; calls are typical of nuthatches.
Where and when it's recorded
Beautiful Nuthatch has been recorded at 23 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 2 countries and regions.
Records by month Northern Hemisphere
To protect this bird from disturbance, we don't list exact sites.
Countries and regions with the most records
eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.
About
The beautiful nuthatch (Sitta formosa) is a bird species in the family Sittidae, collectively known as nuthatches. An irregular, dark eyestripe highlights its eye.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Beautiful Nuthatch?
The Beautiful Nuthatch is about 16 cm long and weighs around 21 g.
Where does the Beautiful Nuthatch live?
Its breeding range: Oriental: Himalayas to northwestern Vietnam. It is most often recorded in Bhutan and China.
When is the best time to see the Beautiful Nuthatch?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in April (Northern Hemisphere).
Is the Beautiful Nuthatch endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Beautiful Nuthatch as Vulnerable.
What does the Beautiful Nuthatch eat?
Main food: Insects & other invertebrates.
What family is the Beautiful Nuthatch in?
It belongs to the family Nuthatches (Sittidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).
At a glance
- Length
- 16 cm
- Weight
- 21 g
- Habitat
- Forest
- Diet
- Insects & other invertebrates
- Lifestyle
- Perches in trees
- Migration
- Resident (barely migrates)
- Conservation
- Vulnerable
More measurements
- Wing
- 104 mm
- Tail
- 58 mm
- Bill
- 22 mm
- Tarsus
- 21 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Oriental: Himalayas to northwestern Vietnam
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Passerines Passeriformes
- Family
- Nuthatches Sittidae
- Genus
- Sitta
Other birds in the genus Sitta
White-cheeked NuthatchSitta leucopsis
Przevalski's NuthatchSitta przewalskii
Giant NuthatchSitta magna
White-breasted NuthatchSitta carolinensis
Blue NuthatchSitta azurea
Velvet-fronted NuthatchSitta frontalis
Yellow-billed NuthatchSitta solangiae
Sulphur-billed NuthatchSitta oenochlamys
Pygmy NuthatchSitta pygmaea
Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
Bahama NuthatchSitta insularis
Yunnan NuthatchSitta yunnanensis
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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Chris Burney. ↗
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