Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China (mainland), India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines (B), Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam.
Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (Sitta frontalis) [XC31585]
by Frank Lambert from Royal Chitwan NP, Temple Tiger Lodge, Nepal (song?)
Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (Sitta frontalis) [XC858361]
by id from Chiang Rai HRDI, Huai Chomphu, Mueang Chiang Rai District, Chiang Rai, Thailand (call)
Subspecies
Sometimes placed with Yellow-billed Nuthatch (Sitta solangiae) and Sulphur-billed Nuthatch (Sitta oenochlamys) in a separate genus, Oenositta. They may form a superspecies and have at times been considered conspecific. Racial identity of Sumatran populations requires verification, and these have been variously ascribed to nominate, saturatior and/or velata.
The following 5 subspecies are recognised:
frontalis Swainson, 1820 - Peninsular India, especially in hills (absent from large areas, e.g. northern and north-west, Gangetic Plain and Deccan plateau), Himalayan foothills from Kumaon east to north-eastern India (south from Assam and Nagaland), Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, southern China (western, southern and south-eastern Yunnan south to Xishuangbanna, central and southern Guizhou, western Guangxi and western and southern Guangdong), Myanmar, Thailand south to Isthmus of Kra (absent from central plains and much of north-east), and Indochina.
saturatior Hartert, 1902 - Malay Peninsula south of Isthmus of Kra (including Phuket, Penang and Singapore), Lingga Archipelago, Sumatra (including Simeulue I) and Bangka.
corallipes (Sharpe, 1888) - Borneo, including Maratua I (off eastern coast).
palawana Hartert, 1905 - Palawan and Balabac, in western Philippines.
BirdLife International Species Factsheet