Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Brown-headed Nuthatch (Sitta pusilla)

Abundance: Rare (records from 7 counties, 1 in Kentucky and 6 in Tennessee [see also Remarks below]).

Status: Permanent Resident (small breeding colony present at one site in Putnam County, Tennessee, since at least 1999 and another in Fentress County, Tennessee, since at least 2008); otherwise recorded only as a Visitor, but further establishment of breeding colonies likely; photograph (20 January 2002, Cookeville Golf Course, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee, Stephen J. Stedman).

Regional High Count: 10 (13 May 2006; Cookeville Golf Course, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee; Winston A. Walden, Michael P. O'Rourke; and 20 December 2008; Cookeville Golf Course, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee; Winston A. Walden, Thomas M. Saya).

Information on Records: 

29 July 1974 (5) Fall Creek Falls State Park, Van Buren County, Tennessee (Tony Koella, Don Psitzer; Williams 1974d; Haney 1981).

28 February 1990 (1) Cumberland County, Tennessee (R. S. Doxey; Knight 1990b).

July 1995 (number not specified) Frozen Head State Natural Area, Morgan County, Tennessee (Charles P. Nicholson; Roy et al. 2001).

19 February 1999-present (breeding colony of several pairs) Cookeville Golf Course, Cookeville, Putnam County, Tennessee (Timothy R. Riddle et al; Casteel 2002b; Stedman and Walden 2003).

26 September-12 October 1999 (1 adult) Wolf Creek Dam, Russell County, Kentucky (David L. Roemer et al.; Busroe 2000a; McNeeley 2001).

18-21 April 2008 (2 adults at nest with eggs) Oby Blevins Rd., Fentress County, Tennessee (David and Laura Crotser photos and unpublished data).

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: No registrations.

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent).  A juvenile with yellowish mandibles was observed with several adults at the Cookeville Golf Course, Putnam County, Tennessee, 30 May 2002 (Stephen J. Stedman; Stedman and Walden 2003), providing the first positive breeding evidence at that site--and in the Region.  On 8 May 2003 a young nuthatch out of the nest was observed being fed by an adult at the same site (Stephen J. Stedman, Winston A. Walden, Michael P. O'Rourke).  On 3 May 2004 an adult was observed passing food to young in a nest cavity located in a dead limb of a living loblolly pine at the Cookeville Golf Course (Stephen J. Stedman, Winston A. Walden unpubl. data). On 21 April 2008 a nest with 4 or 5 eggs was observed on Oby Blevins Rd., Fentress County, Tennessee (David and Laura Crotser pers. com.); this site was dominated by shortleaf pines possessing a heavy cone crop.

Habitat: Old-growth pines, especially loblolly pines, appear to be requisite for this species' presence to persist more than a day.  The sightings at the Wolf Creek Dam, Russell County, Kentucky, during fall 1999 took place at a site where planted loblolly pines were the dominant; these pines were all killed as a result of an outbreak of southern pine beetles in the early 2000s, rendering the site unsuitable for Brown-heads.  The breeding colony at the Cookeville Golf Course, Putnam County, Tennessee, since at least February 1999 has resided in stands of large, old, planted loblolly pines; these were thinned by the pine beetle outbreak of the early 2000s, but many large, old pines resisted the outbreak and continue to provide suitable habitat for the nuthatches.  The breeding colony in Fentress County, Tennessee, during spring 2008 was located in an area where shortleaf pines were the dominant.

Remarks: C. Douglas Malone (pers. com.) recollected a sighting of this nuthatch in Warren County, Tennessee, but was unable to recall the year of the observation, which took place during winter.  David Chaffin (pers. com.) provided no details about a purported sighting at Standing Stone State Park, Overton County, Tennessee, in the late 1990s.

    As with so much else involving the history of the Regional avifauna, the date, and even the year, of the actual first arrival of Brown-heads at the Cookeville Golf Course in Putnam County, Tennessee, will never be known; the date provided above is simply the earliest confirmed date available.  Based on the arrival of Brown-heads in the vicinity of Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee, in 1968 (Haney 1981) and their subsequent discovery in Fall Creek Falls State Park, Van Buren County, Tennessee, in 1974 (Williams 1974c), it appears possible that this species could have pushed northward to Putnam County, Tennessee, by 1980 and certainly by 1990 when the record in Cumberland County, Tennessee, was made (Knight 1990b).

Counties with Observations (boldfaced) or Small Breeding Population (purple):

To see a map (Figure 1) displaying the data in the table above, click on the boldfaced word in this sentence.

Literature Cited