Sitta formosa Blyth, 1843

Le, Hung Manh, Ho, Thang, Le, Trung Nguyen Thoi, Nguyen, Hoa Ngoc & Nguyen, Thach Dang, 2024, New records of birds from Central Vietnam, Biodiversity Data Journal 12, pp. e 133721-e 133721 : e133721-

Sitta formosa Blyth, 1843

Callisitta formosa

Materials

Type status: Other material. Occurrence: occurrenceID: C822C806-BBA4-5A84-958B-F4BADA8FBCB8; Taxon: kingdom: Animalia; phylum: Chordata; class: Aves; order: Passeriformes ; family: Sittidae ; genus: Sitta ; Location: country: Vietnam; stateProvince: Nghe An; locality: Ky Son ; verbatimElevation: 2,088 m; verbatimLatitude: 19 ° 13.167 ’ N; verbatimLongitude: 104 ° 06.158 ’ E

Conservation status

Vulnerable

Distribution

Beautiful Nuthatch has been recorded as a scarce to uncommon resident in West Tonkin and East Tonkin ( Robson 2008, Craik and Minh 2018, Hung et al. 2021 b). This is the first confirmed record of the species for North Annam, Central Vietnam. Beautiful Nuthatch was recently listed as Vulnerable in the IUCN Red List 2024. Elsewhere, this species has been recorded as a resident in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand ( IUCN 2024).

Diagnosis

Size: 16.5 cm. Adult: Large, upperparts black, streaked brilliant blue to white on crown, nape and mantle, broad blue band along scapulars to back and rump, black wings with two narrow white wing-bars, dull rufous-buff underparts with paler throat and head-sides (Fig. 17 ). Juvenile: Very similar to adult, but white streaks on upperparts may be bluer, whiter and paler underparts, particularly on breast.

Figures

Figure 17. Adult Sitta formosa (IEBR B. 691) was photographed in the Ky Son area, Nghe An Province.