PIGMY NUTHATCH 571 



Pigmy Nuthatch. Sitta pygmaea pygmaea Vigors 



Field characters. — About half size of Junco; tail short, about half length of body. 

 Top and sides of head grayish brown; back bluish slate gray; under surface of body 

 pale buff. (See pi. 10/.) Goes about in flocks, individual birds clinging to small 

 branches and foliage like Chickadees. Voice: An irregular series of light 'chattering' 

 notes, sup, sup'-iip, sup'-ilp, etc., uttered by members of a flock, especially when on the 

 move. 



Occurrence. — Rather sparse resident at middle altitudes. Recorded around rim of 

 Yosemite Valley (Gentrys, Glacier Point, Nevada Falls, Wawona Road at Grouse Creek, 

 Yosemite Falls trail near top), and at Bean Creek, four miles east of Coulterville ; also 

 east of mountains near Walker Lake and on Mono Craters. Lives chiefly in yellow and 

 Jeffrey pines. In flocks except when nesting. 



The Pigmy Nuthatch is much less common in the Yosemite region 

 than the other two species of nuthatches. We saw nothing of it ourselves 

 during the summertime. But it came to our attention several times during 

 the fall and early winter months (September 1 to December 30), when 

 flocks appeared in localities around the margin of the Yosemite gorge. The 

 birds seen were foraging chiefly in coniferous trees and of these the yellow 

 and Jeffrey pines seem to be preferred, although sugar pines and the firs 

 were visited as well. Mr. Donald D. McLean has found the species in 

 summer near his home (Dudley) on Smith Creek, east of Coulterville. 

 A full-grown young bird was captured by him on Bean Creek, July 29, 

 1919. 



The Pigmy Nuthatch is small, about the same size as the Red-breasted 

 Nuthatch, and so of about half the size of the Slender-billed, Its color 

 features are chiefly of a negative sort. (See pi. 10/.) The head is always 

 grayish brown with neither the white cheeks of the Slender-bill nor the 

 white stripe over the eye of the Red-breasted Nuthatch. The under surface 

 of the body is pale buff, appearing dull white at a distance. 



Unlike its relatives, the Pigmy Nuthatch is a persistently flocking 

 species. The bands of Pigmies seen by us in the Yosemite region were all 

 small, the largest comprising about ten individuals and the smallest four ; 

 elsewhere larger flocks have been observed. The general behavior of a 

 flock of these birds is suggestive of that of bush-tits. These nuthatches, 

 clinging inverted or upright as circumstances require, work over the 

 smaller twigs and even the foliage at the top and periphery of a tree, rather 

 than the trunk or larger limbs. When absorbed in foraging they are 

 usually quiet ; only now and then is a note to be heard. But when the 

 flock is moving through the tree tops, a babel of small voices is heard. 

 These notes remind one of the contented peepings of a brood of chickens 

 when hovered beneath a hen. 



