From Opus

Photo by MI_Phil
Wexford County, Michigan, USA

Sitta carolinensis

[edit] Identification

Length 13-15 cm

• Blue-grey above
• White underparts and face
• Black crown

[edit] Distribution

Largely resident from British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia south to southern California, Arizona, Gulf Coast, and central Florida. Absent from most of Great Plains.

[edit] Taxonomy

[edit] Subspecies^[1]

• S. c. carolinensis:

• North-eastern North America to Dakotas, Kansas, Oklahoma and eastern Texas

• S. c. nelsoni:

• Rocky Mountains of western US to northern Mexico (Sonora and northern Chihuahua)

• S. c. oberholseri:

• South-western Texas (Chisos Mountains) to eastern Mexico (northern Sierra Madre Oriental)

• S. c. mexicana:

• Mountains of western Mexico (Sierra Madre Occidental)

• S. c. kinneari:

• Mountains of western Mexico (Guerrero and Oaxaca)

• S. c. tenuissima:

• British Columbia and Cascades to Sierra Nevada of northern California

• S. c. aculeata:

• Western Washington to Oregon, California and northern Baja (Sierra Juárez)

• S. c. alexandrae:

• Mountains of northern Baja California (San Pedro Mártir)

• S. c. lagunae:

• Mountains of southern Baja California (Sierra de la Laguna)

Three additional subspecies, atkinsi, umbrosa and cookei^[2], are not recognised by all authorities.

[edit] Habitat

Deciduous and mixed forests, also coniferous.

[edit] Behaviour

Usually seen creeping on tree trunks, head downward

[edit] Breeding

Five to six white eggs, lightly speckled with red-brown, are laid in a cup of twigs and grass lined with feathers and hair. The nest site is in a natural cavity, bird box, or hole excavated by the birds.

[edit] Diet

They have a varied diet of insects, seeds, acorns and nuts and are known to stores food behind loose bark for use during the winter. Commonly seen at bird feeders.

[edit] Vocalisation

Call: A nasal yank-yank.
Song: A series of low whistled notes.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
2. eNature
3. Wikipedia

• List of references

[edit] External Links