{{Short description|Species of bird}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Use Indian English|date=November 2025}} {{Speciesbox | name = White-tailed nuthatch | image = White-tailed Nuthatch, Nibuwatar, Nepal 1.jpg | image_caption = In Nibuwatar, Nepal | status = LC | status_system = IUCN3.1 | status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 12 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International |date=2016 |title=''Sitta himalayensis'' |volume=2016 |article-number=e.T22711164A94281551 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22711164A94281551.en |access-date=12 November 2021}}</ref> | taxon = Sitta himalayensis | authority = Jardine & Selby, 1835 | synonyms = }}

The '''white-tailed nuthatch''' ('''''Sitta himalayensis''''') is a species of bird in the family Sittidae. It ranges across the northern and northeastern parts of the Indian subcontinent, existing mainly in the low-to-middle Himalayas, as well as associated mountain ranges. It is found in Bhutan, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Tibet and Thailand.

==Description and ecology== It is 12&nbsp;cm long, slightly smaller than the other related Himalayan nuthatches, and may be identified by the buff underside, smaller beak than in the Kashmir nuthatch (''S. cashmirensis''), and paler blue-grey mantle than others except for Kashmir nuthatch. The white patch on the centre of the upper tail coverts is difficult to see in the field.<ref name="Kazmierczak">{{cite book | last=Kazmierczak | first=Krys | title=A Field Guide to the Birds of the Indian Subcontinent | publisher=Yale University Press | publication-place=New Haven | date=2000 | isbn=0-300-07921-4 | pages=280–281}}</ref> It has a small bill and pale orangey underparts with unmarked bright rufous undertail-coverts. The black eyestripe is broader than that of Kashmir nuthatch, and flared wider behind the eye.

It is resident in the sub-Himalayan range from Himachal Pradesh to Arunachal Pradesh and into the South Assam Hills (Lushai Hills). It breeds from March to May in broad-leaved and mixed forest.<ref name=Rasmussen2005/>

== Habitat == [[File:White-tailed Nuthatch in Lava September 2025 by Tisha Mukherjee 03.jpg|thumb|''Sitta himalayensis'' with food in Lava, West Bengal, India.]] Its natural habitats are subtropical or tropical moist lowland broadleaf forests and subtropical or tropical moist montane forests; it breeds at 1,500–3,400&nbsp;m altitude, descending in winter to as low as 920&nbsp;m.<ref name="Kazmierczak"/>

==References== {{Reflist|refs= <ref name=Rasmussen2005>{{cite book |last1=Rasmussen |first1=P.C. |first2=J.C. |last2=Anderton |year=2005 |title=Birds of South Asia |series=The Ripley Guide |publisher=Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions}}</ref> }}

==External links== {{Commons category|Sitta himalayensis}} {{Wikispecies|Sitta himalayensis}} * {{BirdLife|22711164|Sitta himalayensis}} * {{IUCN_Map|22711164/264221781|Sitta himalayensis}} * {{Xeno-canto species|Sitta|himalayensis|White-tailed nuthatch}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q942771}}

white-tailed nuthatch Category:Birds of North India Category:Birds of Nepal Category:Birds of Eastern Himalaya Category:Birds of Myanmar white-tailed nuthatch Category:Taxonomy articles created by Polbot