Brown-headed Nuthatch
Common
Name: Brown-headed
Nuthatch (BHNU)
Scientific
Name:
Sitta
pusilla
Global/Continental
Conservation Status: Not
on the IUCN 2004 Red List
National-level
Conservation Status:
U.S.
– Bird of Conservation Concern
Key
Reference(s):
BNA No. 349 (Withgott and Smith 1998)
Distribution:
Resident from se Oklahoma, c Arkansas, s and e Tennessee, w North
Carolina, s-c and e Virginia, s Maryland, and s Deleware south to the
Houston area of Texas, the Gulf coast, and s Florida; also in the n Bahama
Islands (AOU 1998).
Habitat
Associations:
Open pine forest and pine-oak woodland (AOU 1998).
Source(s)
of Research/monitoring Needs (Number in ( ) is Physiographic Area number):
Mid Atlantic Coastal Plain Bird Conservation Plan (44);
Mid-Atlantic Piedmont Bird Conservation Plan (10); Texas Avian Research
Projects- TARP (Texas Partners in Flight 2001); BNA No. 349 (Withgott and
Smith 1998); PIF Monitoring Needs document (Partners in Flight Science
Committee 2004)
PIF
Continental Plan Monitoring Needs Category: ** (Long-term population
trend monitoring considered adequate, but some issues (e.g., bias) may not
be accounted for)
RESEARCH/MONITORING NEEDS (source(s) of needs)
Monitoring
- Priority
monitoring action – NOTE: Breeding
Bird Survey (BBS) provides acceptable data at the continental level (PIF
Monitoring Needs doc)
- Second
priority monitoring action – Improve the BBS (PIF Monitoring Needs
doc)
- Supplemental
BHNU Surveys
- Develop supplemental monitoring programs to determine regional
population levels & trends (Mid Atlantic Piedmont); Status of
population on Grand Bahama Island (BNA)
- Information
on factors that limit population growth (habitat degradation, nest
predation, cavity competition) (BNA)
- Identify
large blocks of pine barrens for conservation action for Bachman’s
Sparrow (which would benefit BHNU also) (Mid Atlantic Piedmont)
Habitat
Needs/Ecology/Life History
- Habitat
requirements of BHNUs in different pine habitats - Investigation of habitat requirements of
BHNUs in maritime pine savannahs (Mid Atlantic Coastal Plain);
Comparative studies of BHNU populations in longleaf-slash pine and
loblolly-shortleaf pine habitats (BNA)
- Role
of cooperative breeding in the ecology and behavior of BHNU (including
comparing reproductive success of coop groups and pairs, genetic
relatedness, mortality, natality, dispersal) (BNA)
- Information
on tool use and foraging success in BHNU (BNA)
Effects
of Management Practices
- Effects
of Silvicultural Practices - Influence of site preperation techniques,
timing, stocking levels, techniques of tree harvest, other
silvicultural practices, clearcut size on breeding bird communities
(including BHNU) (Mid Atlantic Coastal Plain); Economic/ wildlife
tradeoffs in open canopy management (on species including BHNU) (Mid
Atlantic Coastal Plain); Influence of stocking rates, time to
commercial thin, and time to final timber harvest on wildlife value
(including BHNU) (Mid Atlantic Coastal Plain); Current status,
distribution, nesting ecology, and nesting success of BHNU in relation
to forest management practices (TARP - West Gulf Coastal Plain)
- Effects
of fire reduction in fire-maintained ecosystems on bird populations
including BHNU (TARP - West Gulf Coastal Plain)
- Identify
management steps crucial to sustaining populations of BHNU (prescribed
burning, habitat preservation, reintroductions (BNA)
Predation
- see
needs under “Monitoring”
Demographics
- Studies
of marked individuals to learn about dispersal and recolonization
patterns (BNA)
- see
needs under “Habitat Needs/Ecology”
Habitat
Restoration
- Determine
the influence of habitat restoration on colonization & breeding
success of BHNU (Mid Atlantic Piedmont)
Genetics/Taxonomy/Systematics
- Subspecific
distinctness of population on Grand Bahamas Island (BNA)
[Link
to References]
[Link
to PIF Bird Conservation Plans]
|
