Burmese Nuthatch

The Burmese nuthatch is a compact woodland bird with a strong pointed bill, blue-grey upperparts, a dark line through the eye and warm chestnut tones on the lower underparts. Females are generally paler and duller below than males. Like other nuthatches, it has powerful feet and climbs head-first down trunks as well as upward, a useful distinction from treecreepers. It was formerly treated within the chestnut-bellied nuthatch complex (Wikipedia, general species account; Birds of Burma).

It occurs from Myanmar through Thailand, Laos and Cambodia to Vietnam, using dry forest, moist lowland woodland and montane forest. Birds forage on trunks, branches and occasionally the ground, taking ants, termites and other small food items, and may accompany mixed feeding parties. The nest is placed in a tree cavity; adults may narrow the entrance with mud and line the chamber with grass and fur. Compiled data indicate a usual clutch of four or five eggs (Birds of Burma; Oiseaux.net species data).