White-tailed Nuthatch

The white-tailed nuthatch is 12 cm long, slightly smaller than the other related Himalayan nuthatches. It has a buff or pale orangey underside with unmarked bright rufous undertail coverts, a small bill, smaller than the Kashmir nuthatch's, and a paler blue-grey mantle than the others except the Kashmir nuthatch. The white patch on the centre of the upper tail coverts is difficult to see in the field. Its black eyestripe is broader than the Kashmir nuthatch's and flared wider behind the eye (Wikipedia, general species account).

It ranges across the northern and north-eastern Indian subcontinent, mainly the low to middle Himalaya and associated ranges, in Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Tibet and Thailand. It breeds from March to May in broadleaved and mixed forest at 1,500–3,400 m and descends in winter to as low as 920 m. SoIB 2023 treats it as a Himalayan endemic and rates it a Low conservation priority, with a Moderate range of about 75,000 km² (Wikipedia, general species account; SoIB 2023).