Bird
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Sitta pusilla
Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in 67 of 133 counties and cities, across 4 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 67 of 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 4

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- 67 of 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 4
- Habitat models
- Year-round
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 4
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Flat, sandy Coastal Plain pine woodlands, wetter than sandhills and denser than savannas.
Open, fire-kept longleaf pine stands over grasses and wildflowers on wet to moist sandy soil.
Roadsides, fields and disturbed ground

Other habitats in its models (34)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.
In Virginia 1
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (12)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Maritime Forest Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Southern Wet Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
- Central Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Maritime Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- South Florida Pine Flatwoods Year-round.
- Southeastern Interior Longleaf Pine Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Pine-Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Sandhill Oak and Shortleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Upland Longleaf Pine Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Wet Longleaf Pine Savanna and Flatwoods Year-round.
Land cover and other classes (21)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-Line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Developed, Low Intensity Year-round, beside its main habitat.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Black Belt Calcareous Prairie and Woodland - Herbaceous Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Loblolly Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Upland Longleaf Pine Woodland - Scrub/Shrub Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Jackson Plain Dry Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest - Offsite Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Florida Longleaf Pine Sandhill - Scrub/Shrub Understory Modifier Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Virginia/Pitch Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Loblolly Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-(Pine) Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Piedmont Dry Oak-Heath Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Ridge and Valley Dry Calcareous Forest - Pine modifier Year-round.
- The model distinguishes open pine habitat from nearby denser pine.
Seasons in Virginia
- Year-round: nests here, in 67 of 133 counties and cities.
Also found in its main habitats
Its main habitats in Virginia, by how much of its habitat model each one is, with the birds most characteristic of each and the plants that grow wild there. Shared habitat, not food.
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 68
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Red-breasted NuthatchSitta canadensis
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- White-crowned SparrowZonotrichia leucophrys
- White-winged CrossbillLoxia leucoptera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Prairie WarblerDendroica discolor
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
Plants 230
- American ChestnutCastanea dentata
- Eastern Winged SumacRhus copallinum var. latifolia
- Godfrey's ThoroughwortEupatorium godfreyanum
- White ThoroughwortEupatorium album
- Sessileleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium sessilifolium
- Leavenworth's SedgeCarex leavenworthii
- Southern Whitetinge SedgeCarex albicans var. australis
- Southern LoosestrifeSteironema tonsum
- Carolina LilyLilium michauxii
- Tall BellflowerCampanulastrum americanum
- Bigleaf SnowbellStyrax grandifolius
- Delicate Rabbit-tobaccoPseudognaphalium micradenium
Pine flatwoods
Birds 22
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Northern BobwhiteColinus virginianus
- Henslow's SparrowAmmodramus henslowii
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Orchard OrioleIcterus spurius
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
Plants 102
- Slimleaf Tick-trefoilDesmodium tenuifolium
- Camphor PlucheaPluchea camphorata
- Savanna SeedboxLudwigia virgata
- Digitaria serotinaDigitaria serotina
- Nuttall's LobeliaLobelia nuttallii
- BuckrootPediomelum canescens
- Cut-over MuhlyMuhlenbergia expansa
- Crow-poisonStenanthium densum
- Dwarf AzaleaRhododendron atlanticum
- Canadian ServiceberryAmelanchier canadensis
- Dwarf HuckleberryGaylussacia dumosa
- Shining FetterbushLyonia lucida
Pine savannas
Birds 22
- Red-cockaded WoodpeckerPicoides borealis
- Bachman's SparrowAimophila aestivalis
- Northern BobwhiteColinus virginianus
- Henslow's SparrowAmmodramus henslowii
- Eastern BluebirdSialia sialis
- Savannah SparrowPasserculus sandwichensis
- American WoodcockScolopax minor
- Barred OwlStrix varia
- Orchard OrioleIcterus spurius
- Northern ShovelerAnas clypeata
- Snowy EgretEgretta thula
- Wood ThrushHylocichla mustelina
Plants 209
- Northern Wand GoldenrodSolidago stricta
- Virginia ThistleCirsium virginianum
- Mohr's ThoroughwortEupatorium mohrii
- Longleaf MilkweedAsclepias longifolia
- Mohr's BluestemAnatherum mohrii
- Wright's BeaksedgeRhynchospora wrightiana
- Maryland MilkwortSenega mariana
- Carolina Nut RushScleria pauciflora var. caroliniana
- Pink SundewDrosera capillaris
- Bristle Seed Star GrassHypoxis wrightii
- Bog RagwortPackera crawfordii
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP year-round habitat model for Brown-headed Nuthatch Elevation sea level to 762 m
- USGS Gap Analysis Project range maps (2001), modeled by watershed; migratory gives no dates
- NatureServe Explorer (CC BY 4.0), habitat names
- US Census TIGER/Line counties
- Names follow the USGS Gap Analysis Project (2001)














































