Velvet-fronted Nuthatch (Sitta frontalis)
Order: PASSERIFORMES
Family: SITTIDAE Nuthatches
Scientific name: Sitta frontalis
English name: Velvet-fronted Nuthatch
Characteristic: Size 12 cm. A male has a velvet-like black tuft on its forehead and a dark line from behind its eye to the nape. Bill is bright orange. Upperpart is bluish purple, while the underpart is whitish with paler purple patches on belly; flanks and under tail coverts. A female is similar to a male, but lacking a dark line behind the eye.
Distribution: India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myanmar, China, Hainan, Sumatra and Thailand.
Habitat: Dipterocarp forest and dry evergreen forest.
Habit: Scanning rapidly over the bark, on the boughs and the trunks, both vertically and horizontally. It industriously searches for insects hiding in bark crevices. Breeding takes place between February-April; nest is done in a tree cavity; a clutch is 3-6 eggs which will be incubated for 13-14 days.
Status: A common resident.
