Chinese Nuthatch

How to identify

Field marks

1. Prominent white supercilium with a black eyestripe below
2. Blue-gray upperparts
3. Grayish-yellow to cinnamon-orange underparts; white cheeks
4. Slender, pointed, slate-black bill

Male, female and young

The male has a very black crown; the female’s crown is blue-gray like its back, becoming at most dark gray with wear.

Voice

The song is varied, consisting of repeated short whistles at a constant pitch.

Similar species

Eurasian Nuthatch

Chinese Nuthatch is smaller, with a distinct white supercilium, a black crown in the male and plainer underparts, lacking reddish-brown on the undertail-coverts and flanks.

Przevalski's Nuthatch

Chinese Nuthatch has a prominent black eyestripe, whereas Przevalski's Nuthatch has very white cheeks that contrast strongly with the breast.

Where and when it's recorded

Chinese Nuthatch has been recorded at 157 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 2 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

1. Beijing Botanical GardenChina779 records
2. Old Summer Palace [Yuanming Yuan]China315 records
3. Summer PalaceChina225 records

Countries and regions with the most records

ChinaSouth Korea

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

Questions