Editing Velvet-fronted nuthatch

{{short description|Species of bird}}
{{speciesbox
| name = Velvet-fronted nuthatch
| image =Velvet-fronted Nuthatch 0A2A4674.jpg
| image_caption = Male with black stripe above and behind eye, in Sabah, Malaysia<br />[[File:VF nuthatch.ogg|Calls]]
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn">{{cite iucn |author=BirdLife International. |year=2024 |title=''Sitta frontalis'' |volume=2024 |page=e.T22711216A263902563 |doi= |access-date=29 December 2024}}</ref>
| genus = Sitta
| species = frontalis
| authority = [[William Swainson|Swainson]], 1820
}}

The '''velvet-fronted nuthatch''' ('''''Sitta frontalis''''') is a small [[passerine]] [[bird]] in the [[nuthatch]] family [[Sittidae]] found in southern [[Asia]] from [[Nepal]], [[India]], [[Sri Lanka]] ‍and [[Bangladesh]] east to south [[China]] and [[Indonesia]]. Like other nuthatches, it feeds on insects in the bark of trees, foraging on the trunks and branches and their strongly clawed toes allow them to climb down tree trunks or move on the undersides of horizontal branches. They are found in forests with good tree cover and are often found along with other species in [[mixed-species foraging flock]]s. Adult males can be told apart by the black stripe that runs behind and above the eyes. They have a rapid chipping call note. They breed in tree cavities and holes, often created by woodpeckers or barbets.

== Description ==
The velvet-fronted nuthatch has the typical nuthatch shape, short tail and powerful bill and feet. It is 12.5&nbsp;cm long. It is violet-blue above, with lavender cheeks, beige underparts, yellow eyes, and a whitish throat. The iris is distinctly pale and yellow. The bill is red, and there is a black patch on the forehead and lores which is well developed in adults and less so in younger birds. Young birds have a dark beak and dark tips to the undertail coverts.<ref>{{cite book|pages=538–540|title=Birds of South Asia. The Ripley Guide. Volume 2|author1=Rasmussen, P.C.|author2=Anderton, J.C.|year=2005|publisher=Smithsonian Institution & Lynx Edicions}}</ref> Adult males can be told apart by the black superciliary stripe that runs above the eye and over the head, towards the nape.<ref>{{cite book|author=Whistler, Hugh|edition=4| year=1949| publisher=Gurney and Jackson|place=London| title=Popular Handbook of Indian Birds|pages=[https://archive.org/details/popularhandbooko033226mbp/page/n63 30]–31|url=https://archive.org/details/popularhandbooko033226mbp}}</ref><ref name="ali">{{cite book|title=Handbook of the Birds of India and Pakistan. Volume 9. Robins to Wagtails.|author1=Ali, Salim|author2=Ripley, S. Dillon|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1998|edition=2|place=Delhi|pages=229–230}}</ref>

Females lack the supercilium and have a warmer underpart colour. Juveniles are duller versions of the adult lacking the black frontal band. There populations differ in shade and size and the distribution of white on the throat.<ref name="ali" />

== Taxonomy and systematics ==
[[File:Swainson_Sitta_frontalis.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Swainson's 1820 illustration]]
Velvet-fronted nuthatches are closely related to ''[[Sitta solangiae]]'', ''[[Sitta azurea]]'' and ''[[Sitta oenochlamys]]'' and some authors have placed them in a separate genus ''Oenositta'' (proposed by [[Hans Edmund Wolters|H.E. Wolters]] in 1979<ref>{{cite journal|author=Mlíkovský, J.|year=2012|title=Note on the dating of Wolters's "Vogelarten der Erde. Eine systematische Liste mit Verbreitungsangaben sowie deutschen und englischen Namen"|journal=Zoological Bibliography|volume=2|pages=118–122}}</ref>) which would be inappropriate as the clade, although distinct in morphology, is nested within other ''Sitta'' species.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pasquet|first1=Eric|last2=Barker|first2=F. Keith|last3=Martens|first3=Jochen|last4=Tillier|first4=Annie|last5=Cruaud|first5=Corinne|last6=Cibois|first6=Alice|year=2014|title=Evolution within the nuthatches (Sittidae: Aves, Passeriformes): Molecular phylogeny, biogeography, and ecological perspectives|journal=Journal of Ornithology|volume=155|issue=3|pages=755–765|doi=10.1007/s10336-014-1063-7|bibcode=2014JOrni.155..755P |s2cid=17637707}}</ref> The complex includes numerous forms which have had a confusing history, for instance ''oenochlamys'' has been treated as a subspecies of ''frontalis'' in the past.<ref name=":0">{{cite book|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/14482259|title=Check-list of birds of the world |volume=12|publisher=Museum of Comparative Zoology|year=1967|editor=Paynter, R.A. Jr.|place=Cambridge, Mass.|pages=142–143}}</ref> The species was first described validly by Swainson who also created the genus ''Dendrophila'' in which he initially placed the species. [[Brian Hodgson|Hodgson]] had however used the name ''Dendrophila'' for a species of partridge. Swainson used the species name given by Horsfield who had named the bird as ''Orthorynchus frontalis'' but Horsfield published only in 1821 giving priority to Swainson as the author.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/29156392|title=Zoological illustrations. Volume I.|year=1820|author=Swainson, W.|publisher=Printed by R. and A. Taylor for Baldwin, Cradock, and Joy; and W. Wood}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/30702496|journal=Journal of the Natural History Society of Siam| volume=5|issue=3|year=1924|title=The birds of South-West and Peninsular Siam|author1=Robinson, H.C.|author2=Kloss, C.B.|pages=219–397}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url= https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.230605/page/n157|journal=Spolia Zeylanica| volume=23|issue=3–4| title=The Avifaunal Survey of Ceylon conducted jointly by the British and Colombo Museums|pages=119–321|author=Whistler, Hugh|year=1941}}</ref>

About five populations are widely recognized as subspecies but some may be treated as [[phylogenetic species]]:<ref>{{cite journal|author=Dickinson, E.C. |title=Systematic notes on Asian birds. 62. A preliminary review of the Sittidae. | journal=Zool. Med. Leiden|volume= 80|issue=14|year=2006|pages= 225–240|url=http://www.zoologischemededelingen.nl/cgi/t/text/get-pdf?c=zoomed;idno=8005a16}}</ref>

*''S. f. frontalis'' {{small|Swainson, 1820}} - the nominate form is from the hill forests of southern India, they occur in the Western Ghats, the Eastern Ghats, the central Indian forests and in Sri Lanka. The population along the Himalayas is also included in this although the name ''corallina'' {{Small|Hodgson, 1836}} might be more appropriate for this population with individuals being slightly smaller (contrary to [[Bergmann's rule]]). The name ''simplex'' proposed by [[Walter Koelz|Koelz]] in 1939 for birds from the south of Bombay is considered as a synonym. The Himalayan population extends from Uttarakhand east to Bangladesh and into Thailand, Myanmar, the [[Kra Isthmus|Isthmus of Kra]] and possibly into Hong Kong where it may be an introduced species. The name ''chienfengensis'' was proposed by [[Tso-hsin Cheng|Tso-Hsin Cheng]], 1964 for the birds of Hainan, China.<ref name=":0" />
*''S. f. saturatior'' {{small|E. J. O. Hartert, 1902}} – this is distributed in the Malay Peninsula south of the Isthmus of Kra which includes Penang, Singapore, the, Lingga Archipelago and Sumatra.
*''S. f. corallipes'' {{small|(Sharpe, 1888)}} – is found in Borneo extending into the Maratua Island
*''S. f. palawana'' {{small|E. J. O. Hartert, 1905}} – Palawan and Balabac in the western Philippines.
*''S. f. velata'' {{small|Temminck, 1821}} – Java.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Quaisser, C.|author2=R.W.R.J. Dekker|year=2006|title=Systematic notes on Asian birds. 67. Taxonomic identity and lectotype designation of Sitta velata Temminck, 1821.|url=http://www.repository.naturalis.nl/record/210088|journal=Zool. Med. Leiden|volume=80|issue=19|pages=311–314}}</ref>

The use of ectoparasites such as ''[[Brueelia]]'' as a proxy to unravel the phylogeny of the species is unreliable as the nuthatch shares the same ''Brueelia'' species with flycatchers (''Rhipidura'' and ''Ficedula''), possibly because these parasites are [[Phoresis|phoretic]], travelling across hosts via blowflies.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Johnson|first1=Kevin P.|last2=Adams|first2=R. J.|last3=Clayton|first3=Dale H.|year=2002|title=The phylogeny of the louse genus Brueelia does not reflect host phylogeny|journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=77|issue=2|pages=233–247|doi=10.1046/j.1095-8312.2002.00107.x|doi-access=}}</ref>

== Habitat and ecology ==
[[File:Velvet-Fronted Nuthatch with insect catch.jpg|right|thumb|A female ''S. f. frontalis'' with insect prey ([[Coorg]])]]
The velvet-fronted nuthatch is a resident breeder of all types of forests from deciduous to evergreen forest. In the Sunderbans, they are found in ''[[Sonneratia]]'' mangrove forests.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Law, S. C.|year=1948|title=On the occurrence of Sitta frontalis Swains. & Sitta castanea Less. in Khulna Sundarbans.|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48201891|journal=J. Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc.|volume=47|pages=733–734}}</ref> They also live within secondary forest and make use of the shade trees in south Indian coffee plantations.<ref name="ali" />

Like other nuthatches they have strongly curved claws<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pike|first1=A. V. L.|last2=Maitland|first2=D. P.|date=2004|title=Scaling of bird claws|journal=Journal of Zoology|language=en|volume=262|issue=1|pages=73–81|doi=10.1017/s0952836903004382|issn=0952-8369}}</ref> that allow them to climb down vertical tree trunks, unlike species such as [[woodpecker]]s that only work their way upwards. It moves jerkily up and down or around tree branches and trunks. It is an active feeder on insects and spiders, gleaned on the bark of the trunk and branches, and may be found in mixed feeding flocks with other passerines.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kwok|first=Hon-Kai|date=2009|title=Foraging ecology of insectivorous birds in a mixed forest of Hong Kong|journal=Acta Ecologica Sinica|volume=29|issue=6|pages=341–346|doi=10.1016/j.chnaes.2009.09.014|bibcode=2009AcEcS..29..341K |issn=1872-2032}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Kotagama, S.W.|author2=Goodale, E.|year=2004|title=The composition and spatial organisation of mixed-species flocks in a Sri Lankan rainforest|url=https://orientalbirdclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Kotagama-Flocks.pdf|journal=Forktail|volume=20|pages=63–70}}</ref> The insects they disturb are sometimes taken by the [[Greater racket-tailed drongo|racket-tailed drongo]] in Sri Lanka.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Satishchandra, S.H.K.|author2=Kudavidanage, E.P.|author3=Kotagama, S.W.|author4=Goodale, E.|year=2007|title=The benefits of joining mixed-species flocks for Greater Racket-tailed Drongos Dicrurus paradiseus|url=https://orientalbirdclub.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Satischandra-Drongos.pdf|journal=Forktail|volume=23|pages=145–148}}</ref>

This is a noisy bird, often located by its repeated “sit-sit-sit” call.<ref name="ali" />

Adults go through a complete postnuptial moult that begins at the end of June in northern India.<ref>{{cite journal|author=Vaurie, Charles|year=1950|title=Notes on some Asiatic nuthatches and creepers|url=http://digitallibrary.amnh.org/bitstream/handle/2246/4241/N1472.pdf|journal=American Museum Novitates|issue=1472}}</ref>

''[[Plasmodium]]'' parasites including ''[[Haemoproteus]]''<ref>{{cite book|author1=McClure, H.E.|author2=Poonswad, P.| author3=Greiner, E.C.|author4=Laird, M.|year=1978| title=Haematozoa in the birds of eastern and southern Asia|publisher=University of Newfoundland Press|place=St.John's, Newfoundland, Canada}}</ref> have been detected in their blood.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Silva-Iturriza| first1=Adriana|last2=Ketmaier| first2=Valerio|last3=Tiedemann|first3=Ralph|date=2012|title=Prevalence of avian haemosporidian parasites and their host fidelity in the central Philippine islands|journal= Parasitology International|volume=61|issue=4|pages=650–657|doi=10.1016/j.parint.2012.07.003 | pmid=22819957|issn=1383-5769}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1= Chen|first1=Tien-Huang|last2=Aure|first2=Wilfredo E.|last3=Cruz |first3=Estrella Irlandez|last4=Malbas|first4=Fedelino F.|last5=Teng|first5=Hwa-Jen|last6=Lu|first6=Liang-Chen|last7=Kim|first7=Kyeong Soon|last8=Tsuda| first8=Yoshio|last9=Shu|first9=Pei-Yun|date=2015-11-27|title=Avian Plasmodium infection in field-collected mosquitoes during 2012-2013 in Tarlac, Philippines|journal=Journal of Vector Ecology|language=en|volume=40|issue=2| pages=386–392|doi=10.1111/jvec.12178|pmid=26611975|issn=1081-1710|doi-access=free}}</ref> Feather mites of the genus ''Neodectes'' are found on the species.<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Byers, K.A. |author2= H.C. Proctor| title= Like a glove: do the dimensions of male adanal suckers and tritonymphalfemale docking papillae correlate in the Proctophyllodidae (Astigmata: Analgoidea)?|journal= Acarologia| year=2014| volume=54| issue=1| pages=3–14| doi=10.1051/acarologia/20142110|url=https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-01565225/document| doi-access=free}}</ref>

==Breeding==
Nests are in tree holes or crevices, lined with moss, fur and feathers, or grass. The breeding season on northern India is in summer, April to June and January to May in southern India and Sri Lanka. Unlike other nuthatches, it is said not to employ mud to narrow the entrance of the hole.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma. Birds. Volume I.|author=Oates, E.W.|year=1889| publisher=Taylor and Francis| place=London|pages=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924000100325/page/n330 307]–308|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924000100325}}</ref> Three to six eggs are laid, white speckled with red.<ref name="ali" /> The female spends more time incubating but both take turns in feeding the young.<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.230604/page/n149 |title=Nest and Eggs of Ceylon Birds. |journal=Ceylon Journal of Science|volume=21|issue=2| year=1939| author=Phillips, W.W.A.|pages=113–137}}</ref>

== In culture ==
Being a small forest bird, only a few forest-dwelling tribes are aware of the species. The [[Lotha Naga]] people will hunt many birds for food but the velvet-fronted nuthatch is generally proscribed due to the belief that killing them would bring misfortune to the hunter. The birds forage in flocks and members are believed to stay on nearby if one is killed, and according to the Lothas, they will wait to be killed and the hunter would soon see people around him die in quick succession one after another.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Lhota Nagas|author=Mills, J.P.| year=1922| place=London| publisher=Macmillan and Co.|page=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.148253/page/n142 75] |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.148253}}</ref> The [[Soliga people]] call it the maratotta or "tree hopper".<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.2993/0278-0771-32.2.185|author1=Agnihotri, Samira |author2=Si, Aung |journal=Journal of Ethnobiology| volume= 32|issue=2|pages=185–211| year= 2012|title=Solega Ethno-Ornithology|s2cid=145470323 }}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://skullsite.com/skullpage/sitta-frontalis-velvet-fronted-nuthatch/ Skull images]

{{Taxonbar|from=Q73714}}

[[Category:Nuthatches|velvet-fronted nuthatch]]
[[Category:Birds of Indomalaya]]
[[Category:Birds described in 1820|velvet-fronted nuthatch]]
[[Category:Taxa named by William Swainson]]