GAP Analysis Predicted Distribution Map

Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea)

Species Code: SIPY

Legend:
= Core Habitat
= Marginal Habitat

Breeding Range Map
The green area shows the predicted habitats for breeding only. The habitats were identified using 1991 satellite imagery, Breeding Bird Atlas (BBA), other datasets and experts throughout the state, as part of the Washington Gap Analysis Project. Habitats used during non-breeding months and migratory rest-stops were not mapped.

Metadata (Data about data or how the map was made)

Click to enlarge distribution map

Other maps & Information:

Breeding Bird Atlas
NatureMapping observations
during breeding season
NatureMapping observations
throughout the year

The presence of this species is uncommon to common in dry, open Ponderosa Pine forests at low elevations throughout eastern Washington. It is local in the Blue Mountains.

Core zones were Ponderosa Pine, Oak, and steppe zones at the edges of the Columbia Basin, and it occurred peripherally in Interior Douglas-fir. In steppe zones mixed and conifer forests and tree savanna were good habitats. Low density development, hardwood forests, and wetlands were adequate. In the Oak and Ponderosa Pine zones, tree savanna and open-canopy canopy mixed and conifer forests were good; low-density development, other forests, wetlands, and pasture were adequate. The Interior Douglas-fir zone was treated like the Ponderosa Pine zone, except that closed forests were excluded.

Few species have such a predictable distribution as the Pygmy Nuthatch. They are very closely tied to Ponderosa Pine, and are rarely found far from it. In northeastern Washington, they can be found along major river valleys, and rarely farther up in the Interior Douglas-fir zone. Curiously, they are very local in the Blue Mountains, despite the widespread presence of Ponderosa Pine there.

Translated from the Washington Gap Analysis Bird Volume by Uchenna Bright
Text edited by Gussie Litwer
Webpage designed by Dave Lester