Editing Nuthatch (section)

==Distribution and habitat==
[[File:Pinus ponderosa 8144t.jpg|upright|thumb|Open [[ponderosa pine]] woodlands are a habitat for [[pygmy nuthatch]].]]
Members of the nuthatch family live in most of North America and Europe and throughout Asia down to the [[Wallace Line]]. Nuthatches are sparsely represented in Africa; one species lives in a small area of northeastern Algeria<ref name="BWP1400">Snow & Perrins (1998) pp. 1400–1401 "Algerian Nuthatch"</ref> and a population of the Eurasian nuthatch subspecies, ''S.&nbsp;e.&nbsp;hispaniensis'', lives in the mountains of [[Morocco]].<ref name="BWP1402">Snow & Perrins (1998) pp. 1402–1404 "Nuthatch"</ref> Most species are resident year-round. The only significant migrant is the red-breasted nuthatch, which winters widely across North America, deserting the northernmost parts of its breeding range in Canada; it has been recorded as a vagrant in [[Bermuda]], [[Iceland]] and England.<ref name="HQrbn"/>

Most nuthatches are woodland birds and the majority are found in [[conifer]]ous or other [[evergreen]] forests, although each species has a preference for a particular tree type. The strength of the association varies from the Corsican nuthatch, which is closely linked with [[European black pine|Corsican pine]], to the catholic habitat of the Eurasian nuthatch, which prefers [[deciduous]] or mixed woods but breeds in coniferous forests in the north of its extensive range.<ref name="BWP1402"/><ref name="BWP1399">Snow & Perrins (1998) pp. 1399–1400 "Corsican nuthatch"</ref> However, the two species of rock nuthatches are not strongly tied to woodlands: they breed on rocky slopes or cliffs, although both move into wooded areas when not breeding.<ref name="BWP1404">Snow & Perrins (1998) pp. 1404–1406 "Eastern Rock Nuthatch"</ref><ref name = "BWP1406"/> In parts of Asia where several species occur in the same geographic region, there is often an altitudinal separation in their preferred habitats.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Menon|first=Shaily|author2=Islam, Zafar-Ul |author3=Soberón, Jorge |author4=Peterson, A. Townsend |year=2008|title=Preliminary analysis of the ecology and geography of the Asian nuthatches (Aves: Sittidae)|journal=The Wilson Journal of Ornithology|volume=120|issue=4|pages=692–699|doi=10.1676/07-136.1|s2cid=11556921|url=https://scholarworks.gvsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=biopeerpubs|url-access=subscription}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Ripley|first=S. Dillon|year=1959|title=Character displacement in Indian nuthatches (Sitta)|journal=Postilla|volume=42|pages=1–11|url=https://archive.org/details/postilla150peab}}</ref>

Nuthatches prefer a fairly temperate climate; northern species live near sea level whereas those further south are found in cooler highland habitats. Eurasian and red-breasted nuthatches are lowland birds in the north of their extensive ranges, but breed in the mountains further south; for example, the Eurasian nuthatch, which breeds where the July temperature range is {{convert|16|-|27|C|F}}, is found near sea level in Northern Europe, but between {{convert|1,750|and|1,850|m|ft|abbr=on}} altitude in Morocco.<ref name="BWP1402"/> The velvet-fronted nuthatch is the sole member of the family which prefers tropical lowland forests.<ref name="HQvfn"/>