Giant Nuthatch

Since there's nothing for me to do today, so I just rambled through some of my old photos I put in my other external hard disk. These photos were taken on the last day of 2007, 31 December, at Doi Angkang, Chiang Mai, Thailand. The bird in the photo is called Giant Nuthatch (Sitta magna), which is the largest nuthatch in Thailand and Asia with a lenght of 20 cm. It is listed as vulnerable in the Red Data Book, and Thailand might be one of the easiest countries to see this species. It is strictly dependent on open pine or mixed oak and pine forest of the altitude between 1,200-1,830 m. above sea level. Doi Angkang and Doi Chiangdao are among some of the very few places where this rare nuthatch can be found.

I'm not really sure about this, but it seems to have the habit of collecting oaks like some woodpeckers in America.

All of the above pictures are of the same male bird. Female bird (see photo below) has duller underparts with buffish wash and somewhat paler black eyestripe.