Southern China, from extreme south-eastern Xizang (Zayu and Zhuwagen) east to southern Sichuan (southern from Yajiang) and south to western and central Yunnan and western Guizhou.
 
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010) and decreasing.
Status NT
Habitat destruction anddegradation through logging and forest fires is the main threat.
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.
Voice
Calls include a nasal 'kni', 'pi', 'tit' and 'toik' notes (former two often repeated) and harsh, scolding 'schri-schri-schri...', sometimes grading to strident, nasal 'ziew-ziew-ziew...'.
Yunnan Nuthatch (Sitta yunnanensis) [XC239908]
by id from Walong area (below Helmet Top), India (call, song)
Yunnan Nuthatch (Sitta yunnanensis) [XC876116]
by Scott Olmstead from , China (alarm call, call)
Subspecies
No subspecies.
Usually considered a member of a species group that contains also Corsican Nuthatch (Sitta whiteheadi), Algerian Nuthatch (Sitta ledanti), Krueper's Nuthatch (Sitta krueperi), Snowy-browed Nuthatch (Sitta villosa) and Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis), and all sometimes thought to form a superspecies. However, differs from others of group in that crown of male is concolorous with upperparts. Alternatively, sometimes thought to represent a link between that group and the "Wood Nuthatch (Sitta europaea) superspecies" (containing also Chestnut-vented Nuthatch (Sitta nagaensis), Kashmir Nuthatch (Sitta cashmirensis), Indian Nuthatch (Sitta castanea), Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch (Sitta cinnamoventris) and Burmese Nuthatch (Sitta neglecta)), but as yet no DNA evidence to lend support to either argument.