Editing Nuthatch (section)

==Taxonomy==
{{Phylogeny/Certhioidea}}
The nuthatch family, Sittidae, was described by [[René-Primevère Lesson]] in 1828.<ref>{{ cite book | last=Lesson | first=René | author-link=René Lesson | year=1828 | title=Manuel d'ornithologie, ou description des genres et des principales espèces d'oiseaux | volume=1 | language=fr | place=Paris | publisher=Roret | page=360 | url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/55490443 }} Lesson used the French ''Sittées'' rather than the Latin Sittidae.</ref><ref name = Cracraft/> 

Sometimes the [[wallcreeper]] (''Tichodroma muraria''), which is restricted to the mountains of southern Eurasia, is placed in the same family as the nuthatches, but in a separate subfamily "Tichodromadinae", in which case the nuthatches are classified in the subfamily "Sittinae". However, the wallcreeper is more often placed in a separate family, the Tichodromadidae.<ref name=BWP>Snow & Perrins (1998) pp. 1408</ref> 

The wallcreeper is intermediate in its [[morphology (biology)|morphology]] between the nuthatches and the [[treecreeper]]s, but its appearance, the texture of its plumage, and the shape and pattern of its tail suggest that it is closer to the former [[taxon]].<ref name="Vaurie">{{cite journal| last= Vaurie | first= Charles |author2=Koelz, Walter  |date=November 1950 | title= Notes on some Asiatic nuthatches and creepers| journal= [[American Museum Novitates]] | issue=1472 | pages= 1–39 | url = http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/dspace/bitstream/2246/4241/1/N1472.pdf }}</ref> 

The [[nuthatch vanga]] of [[Madagascar]] (formerly known as the coral-billed nuthatch) and the [[sittella]]s from [[Australia]] and [[New Guinea]] were once placed in the nuthatch family because of similarities in appearance and lifestyle, but they are not closely related. The resemblances arose via [[convergent evolution]] to fill an [[ecological niche]].<ref name="HQfamily">Harrap & Quinn (1996) pp. 16–17 "Family Introduction"</ref>
{{Cladogram
|caption=Phylogeny based on a molecular genetic study by Martin Päckert and colleagues published in 2020. The [[yellow-billed nuthatch]] (''Sitta solangiae'') was not sampled.<ref>{{ cite journal | last1=Päckert | first1=M. | last2=Bader-Blukott | first2=M.  | last3=Künzelmann | first3=B. | last4=Sun | first4=Y.-H. | last5=Hsu | first5=Y.-C. | last6=Kehlmaier | first6=C. | last7=Albrecht | first7=F. | last8=Illera | first8=J.C. | last9=Martens | first9=J. |  date=2020 | title=A revised phylogeny of nuthatches (Aves, Passeriformes, ''Sitta'') reveals insight in intra- and interspecific diversification patterns in the Palearctic | journal=Vertebrate Zoology | volume=70 | issue=2 | pages=241–262 | doi=10.26049/VZ70-2-2020-10 | doi-access=free }}</ref>
|align=right
|cladogram={{Clade| style=font-size:80%;line-height:75%;width:350px;
|label1=''Sitta''
|1={{clade
      |1={{clade
         |1=[[White-cheeked nuthatch]] (''Sitta leucopsis'')
         |2=[[Przevalski's nuthatch]] (''Sitta przewalskii'') 
         }}
      |2={{clade
         |1={{clade
            |1=[[White-breasted nuthatch]] (''Sitta carolinensis'')
            |2=[[Giant nuthatch]] (''Sitta magna'')
            }}
         |2={{clade
            |1={{clade
               |1=[[Beautiful nuthatch]] (''Sitta formosa'')
               |2={{clade
                  |1={{clade
                     |1=[[Blue nuthatch]] (''Sitta azurea'')
                     |2={{clade
                        |1=[[Velvet-fronted nuthatch]] (''Sitta frontalis'')
                        |2=[[Sulphur-billed nuthatch]] (''Sitta oenochlamys'')
                        }}
                     }}
                 |2={{clade
                    |1={{clade
                       |1=[[Pygmy nuthatch]] (''Sitta pygmaea'')
                       |2={{clade
                          |1=[[Bahama nuthatch]] (''Sitta insularis'')
                          |2=[[Brown-headed nuthatch]] (''Sitta pusilla'')
                          }}
                       }}
                    |2={{clade
                       |1={{clade
                          |1=[[Red-breasted nuthatch]] (''Sitta canadensis'')
                          |2={{clade
                             |1=[[Chinese nuthatch]] (''Sitta villosa'')
                             |2=[[Corsican nuthatch]] (''Sitta whiteheadi'')
                             }}
                          }}
                       |2={{clade
                          |1=[[Yunnan nuthatch]] (''Sitta yunnanensis'')
                          |2={{clade
                             |1=[[Krüper's nuthatch]] (''Sitta krueperi'')
                             |2=[[Algerian nuthatch]] (''Sitta ledanti'')
                             }}
                          }}  
                       }}
                    }}
                 }}
               }}
            |2={{clade
               |1={{clade
                  |1={{clade
                     |1=[[Western rock nuthatch]] (''Sitta neumayer'')
                     |2=[[Eastern rock nuthatch]] (''Sitta tephronota'')
                     }}
                  |2={{clade
                     |1=[[Siberian nuthatch]] (''Sitta arctica'')
                     |2={{clade
                        |1={{clade
                           |1=[[White-tailed nuthatch]] (''Sitta himalayensis'')
                           |2=[[White-browed nuthatch]] (''Sitta victoriae'')
                           }}
                        |2={{clade
                           |1=[[Eurasian nuthatch]] (''Sitta europaea'')
                           |2={{clade
                              |1=[[Chestnut-vented nuthatch]] (''Sitta nagaensis'')
                              |2={{clade
                                 |1=[[Kashmir nuthatch]] (''Sitta cashmirensis'')
                                 |2={{clade
                                    |1=[[Indian nuthatch]] (''Sitta castanea'')
                                    |2={{clade
                                       |1=[[Chestnut-bellied nuthatch]] (''Sitta cinnamoventris'')
                                       |2=[[Burmese nuthatch]] (''Sitta neglecta'')
                                       }}
                                    }}
                                 }}
                              }}
                           }}
                        }}
                     }}
                  }}
               }}
            }}
         }}
      }}
}}
}}

The nuthatches' closest relatives, other than the wallcreeper, are the [[treecreeper]]s, and the two (or three) families are sometimes placed in a larger grouping with the [[wren]]s and [[gnatcatcher]]s. This [[superfamily (taxonomy)|superfamily]], the [[Certhioidea]], is proposed on [[phylogenetics|phylogenetic]] studies using [[mitochondria]]l and [[cell nucleus|nuclear]] DNA, and was created to cover a clade of (four or) five families removed from a larger grouping of passerine birds, the [[Old World warbler|Sylvioidea]].<ref name = Cracraft>Cracraft, J.; Barker, F. Keith; Braun, M. J.; Harshman, J.; Dyke, G.; Feinstein, J.; Stanley, S.; Cibois, A.; Schikler, P.; Beresford, P.; García-Moreno, J.; Sorenson, M. D.; Yuri, T.; Mindell. D. P. (2004) "Phylogenetic relationships among modern birds (Neornithes): Toward an avian tree of life." pp. 468–489 in ''Assembling the tree of life'' (J. Cracraft and M. J. Donoghue, eds.). Oxford University Press, New York. {{ISBN|0-19-517234-5}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|title=Monophyly and relationships of wrens (Aves: Troglodytidae):a congruence analysis of heterogeneous mitochondrial and nuclear DNA sequence data|author=Barker, F. Keith|year=2004|url=http://www.tc.umn.edu/~barke042/pdfs/Barker04.pdf|pmid=15062790|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|volume=31|issue=2|pages=486–504|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2003.08.005|bibcode=2004MolPE..31..486B |url-status = dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160412015810/http://www.tc.umn.edu/~barke042/pdfs/Barker04.pdf|archive-date=2016-04-12}}</ref>

===Genus name===
The nuthatches are all in the genus ''Sitta'' [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]], 1758,<ref>{{cite book | last=Linnaeus | first=C. | author-link=Carl Linnaeus | title=Systema naturae per regna tria naturae |volume=I |edition=[[10th edition of Systema Naturae|10th]] | location=Stockholm |publisher=Laurentius Salvius |year=1758| quote =''Rostrum'' subcultrato-conicum, rectum, porrectum: integerrimum, mandíbula superiore obtusiuscula. ''Lingua'' lacero-emarginata |page= 115 | url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/727020 }}</ref> a name derived from {{linktext|σίττη}} : {{Transliteration|grc|síttē}}, [[Ancient Greek]] for this bird.<ref name="Chambers">{{cite book | last = Brookes| first = Ian | title = The Chambers Dictionary | edition = ninth | year =2006 | publisher = Chambers | location = Edinburgh | isbn = 978-0-550-10185-3 |page = 1417 }}</ref> 

The English term ''nuthatch'' refers to the propensity of some species to wedge a large insect or seed in a crack and hack at it with their strong bills.<ref name="dict">{{cite web| title= Nuthatch | work= Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |url= http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nuthatch | publisher= Merriam-Webster Online | access-date=2008-06-24}}</ref>

===Species boundaries===
Species boundaries in the nuthatches are difficult to define. The red-breasted nuthatch, [[Corsican nuthatch]] and [[Chinese nuthatch]] have breeding ranges separated by thousands of kilometres, but are similar in habitat preference, appearance and song. They were formerly considered to be one species, but are now normally split into three<ref name="HQlimits">Harrap & Quinn (1996) pp. 12–13 "Species limits"</ref> and comprise a [[superspecies]] along with the [[Kruper's nuthatch|Krüper's]] and [[Algerian nuthatch]]. Unusually for nuthatches, all five species excavate their own nests.<ref name="Pasquet">{{cite journal| last=Pasquet | first= Eric |date=January 1998 | title= Phylogeny of the nuthatches of the ''Sitta canadensis'' group and its evolutionary and biogeographic implications | journal= Ibis | volume= 140 | issue= 1 | pages= 150–156 | doi =10.1111/j.1474-919X.1998.tb04553.x }}</ref>

The [[Eurasian nuthatch|Eurasian]], [[chestnut-vented nuthatch|chestnut-vented]], [[Kashmir nuthatch|Kashmir]] and [[chestnut-bellied nuthatch]]es form another superspecies and replace each other geographically across Asia. They are currently considered to be four separate species, but the south Asian forms were once believed to be a subspecies of the Eurasian nuthatch.<ref name="HQeurasian">Harrap & Quinn (1996) pp. 109–114 "Eurasian Nuthatch"</ref> A recent change in this taxonomy is a split of the chestnut-bellied nuthatch into three species, namely the Indian nuthatch, ''Sitta castanea'', found south of the [[Ganges]], the Burmese nuthatch, ''Sitta neglecta'', found in southeast Asia, and the chestnut-bellied nuthatch ''sensu stricto'', ''S.&nbsp;cinnamoventris'', which occurs in the [[Himalayas]].<ref name="Rasmussen">{{cite book| author = Rasmussen, Pamela C.|author2=Anderton, John C. |author-link2=John C. Anderton  | title = Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide | year = 2005 | publisher = Lynx Edicions, Barcelona. | isbn =978-84-87334-67-2 |page = 536 | author-link = Pamela C. Rasmussen|title-link=Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide }}</ref> Mitochondrial DNA studies have demonstrated that the white-breasted northern subspecies of Eurasian nuthatch, ''S.&nbsp;(europea) arctica'', is distinctive,<ref name="Zink">{{cite journal| last= Zink |first= Robert M. |author2= Drovetski, Sergei V.|author3=Rohwer, Sievert |date=September 2006 | title= Selective neutrality of mitochondrial ND2 sequences, phylogeography and species limits in ''Sitta europaea'' | journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution | volume=40| pmid= 16716603 | issue=3| pages= 679–686 | url =http://www.cbs.umn.edu/eeb/faculty/ZinkRobert/Selective%20neutrality.pdf | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20090304212408/http://www.cbs.umn.edu/eeb/faculty/ZinkRobert/Selective%20neutrality.pdf | archive-date =2009-03-04 | doi = 10.1016/j.ympev.2005.11.002 |bibcode= 2006MolPE..40..679Z }}</ref> and also a possible candidate for full species status.<ref name="Dickinson"/> This split has been accepted by the [[British Ornithologists' Union]].<ref name= sangster2012>{{cite journal| last= Sangster | first= George |author2=Collinson, Martin |author3=Crochet, J. Pierre-André |author4=Knox, Alan G. |author5=Parkin, David T. |author6= Votier, Stephen C.  | year=2012 | title = Taxonomic recommendations for British birds: eighth report | journal= Ibis | volume=  154| issue = 4 | pages= 874–883| doi = 10.1111/j.1474-919X.2012.01273.x | doi-access= free }}</ref>

A 2006 review of Asian nuthatches suggested that there are still unresolved problems in nuthatch taxonomy and proposed splitting the genus ''Sitta''. This suggestion would move the red- and yellow-billed south Asian species ([[velvet-fronted nuthatch|velvet-fronted]], [[yellow-billed nuthatch|yellow-billed]] and [[sulphur-billed nuthatch]]es) to a new genus, create a third genus for the [[blue nuthatch]], and possibly a fourth for the [[beautiful nuthatch]].<ref name="Dickinson">{{cite journal |last=Dickinson |first=Edward C.|author-link=Edward C. Dickinson|year=2006 |title=Systematic notes on Asian birds. 62. A preliminary review of the Sittidae |journal=[[Zoologische Verhandelingen, Leiden]] |volume=80 |pages= 225–240 |format = PDF| url = http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/document/41857}}</ref>

The fossil record for this group appears to be restricted to a foot bone of an early [[Miocene]] bird from [[Bavaria]] which has been identified as an extinct representative of the climbing Certhioidea, a [[clade]] comprising the treecreepers, wallcreeper and nuthatches. It has been described as ''Certhiops rummeli''.<ref name="Manegold">{{cite journal | last= Manegold | first= Albrecht |date=April 2008 | title= Earliest fossil record of the Certhioidea (treecreepers and allies) from the early Miocene of Germany | journal= Journal of Ornithology | volume=149 | issue= 2 | pages= 223–228 | doi = 10.1007/s10336-007-0263-9| bibcode= 2008JOrni.149..223M | s2cid= 11900733 }}</ref> Two fossil species have been described in the genus ''Sitta'': ''S.&nbsp;cuvieri'' Gervais, 1852 and ''S.&nbsp;senogalliensis'' Portis, 1888, but they probably do not belong to nuthatches.<ref>
Jiří Mlíkovský, [http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf Cenozoic Birds of the World. Part 1:Europe] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110520101755/http://www.nm.cz/download/JML-18-2002-CBE.pdf |date=2011-05-20 }} , Prague, Ninox Press, 2002, 407 p., p. 252, 273
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