Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) [XC102139]
by Mike Nelson from Three Lakes WMA, Prairie Lakes Unit, Osceola Co., Florida, United States (call)
Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla) [XC111207]
by Mike Nelson from Cove Park, Knoxville, Tenneessee, United States (call, song)
Subspecies
Forms a superspecies with Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea) and sometimes considered conspecific. Together, the two are sometimes considered closely related to White-tailed Nuthatch (Sitta himalayensis), shared characters including white at base of tail and nape feathers. Alternatively, superspecies may represent an older invasion of North America by ancestral stock of Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis). Geographical variation slight, size decreasing clinally from north to south, with a "step" between more or less isolated population in Maryland (large, long-winged, deep-billed) and that of Virginia/North Carolina;. Distinctiveness of subspecies insularis requires confirmation.
The following 2 subspecies are recognised:
pusilla Latham, 1790 - USA from extreme south-eastern Oklahoma, eastern Texas and western and southern Arkansas (southern from Ouachita Mts) east to south-eastern Tennessee, central and eastern North Carolina, south-eastern Virginia, tidewater areas of south-eastern Maryland (southern from Talbot County, mostly east of Chesapeake Bay) and extreme southern Delaware, south to Gulf States (absent from grassland strip along coast) and Florida (south to Collier County).
insularis Bond, J, 1931 - Bahamas (Grand Bahama). Considered by some authors to be a distinct species, Bahama Nuthatch (Sitta insularis).
BirdLife International Species Factsheet