Bird
White-breasted Nuthatch
Sitta carolinensis
Lives in Virginia all year and nests here. Found in all 133 counties and cities, across 13 habitats.
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 13

At a glance
- Group
- Birds
- Here
- All year
- Nesting
- Nests here
- Range
- All 133 counties and cities
- Habitats
- 13
- Habitat models
- Year-round
Where it lives
The places its habitat model includes. It is not found everywhere a habitat occurs.
Habitats in Virginia 13
Each habitat page lists the plants and wildlife also found there.
Granite and other acidic rock outcrops




Streams, rivers and their banks


Forests and open woodlands on dry ridges and slopes, often oak or pine.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Forests on low ground beside rivers and streams that flood from time to time.
Glades, barrens and outcrops on limestone
Open, thin-soil openings and rock on limestone, dolomite or other lime-rich rock, including cedar glades.
Flat, poorly drained uplands and terraces with oaks, sweetgum and sometimes loblolly pine, wet in winter and dry in summer, but neither a floodplain nor a swamp.
Forests between dry and moist, often oak-hickory on slopes.
High mountain forests of beech, yellow birch and sugar maple, including boulderfield forests.
Steep, sun-baked slopes of loose shale with sparse oaks and Virginia pine and their own endemic wildflowers. Linked only where the source names shale barrens; calcareous shale stays with the limestone glades.
Other habitats in its models (80)
Land cover, or classes with no habitat page in Virginia. Those recorded in Virginia first, the rest by region.
In Virginia 1
- Southern Piedmont Glade and Barrens Year-round.
Elsewhere in the South (49)
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Small Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Xeric River Dune Year-round.
- Central and South Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- Central Interior Highlands Calcareous Glade and Barrens Year-round.
- Central Interior Highlands Dry Acidic Glade and Barrens Year-round.
- Crosstimbers Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- Cumberland Riverscour Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Limestone Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Small Stream and River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loblolly-Hardwood Flatwoods Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Loess Bluff Forest Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Southern Mesic Slope Forest Year-round.
- East-Central Texas Plains Post Oak Savanna and Woodland Year-round.
- East-Central Texas Plains Riparian Forest Year-round.
- Edwards Plateau Limestone Savanna and Woodland Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Dune Woodland and Forest Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Flatwoods Year-round.
- Mississippi River Alluvial Plain Dry-Mesic Loess Slope Forest Year-round.
- Mississippi River Bottomland Depression Year-round.
- Mississippi River Low Floodplain (Bottomland) Forest Year-round.
- Mississippi River Riparian Forest Year-round.
- Nashville Basin Limestone Glade Year-round.
- Northern Crowley's Ridge Sand Forest Year-round.
- Ouachita Montane Oak Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry Oak Woodland Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Riparian Year-round.
- Ozark-Ouachita Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- Red River Large Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- South-Central Interior / Upper Coastal Plain Flatwoods Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Blackwater River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Dry Upland Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Hydric Hammock Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Cypress Dome Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Oak Dome and Hammock Year-round.
- Southern Crowley's Ridge Mesic Loess Slope Forest Year-round.
- Southern Interior Low Plateau Dry-Mesic Oak Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Chenier and Upper Texas Coastal Fringe Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Mesic Hardwood Forest Year-round.
- West Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Large River Swamp 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 Small Stream and River Forest Year-round.
Northeast (2)
- Central Appalachian Alkaline Glade and Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Wet Flatwoods Year-round.
Midwest (5)
- North-Central Interior Beech-Maple Forest Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Dry Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Dry-Mesic Oak Forest and Woodland Year-round.
- North-Central Interior Maple-Basswood Forest Year-round.
- Western Great Plains Wooded Draw and Ravine Year-round.
Land cover and other classes (23)
- Allegheny-Cumberland Dry Oak Forest and Woodland - Pine Modifier Year-round.
- Atlantic Coastal Plain Fall-line Sandhills Longleaf Pine Woodland - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Interior Shortleaf Pine-Oak Forest - Hardwood 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 - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Large River Floodplain Forest - Forest Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Offsite Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Near-Coast Pine Flatwoods - Open Understory Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- East Gulf Coastal Plain Northern Loess Plain Oak-Hickory Upland - Juniper Modifier Year-round.
- Eastern Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
- Lower Mississippi River Bottomland Depressions - Forest Modifier Year-round.
- Mississippi River Floodplain and Riparian Forest Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest - Mixed Modifier Year-round.
- Northeastern Interior Dry Oak Forest-Hardwood Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Bay/Gum Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Nupea Modifier Year-round.
- Southern Coastal Plain Nonriverine Basin Swamp - Okefenokee Taxodium 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.
- Tamaulipan Riparian Systems Year-round.
- Western Great Plains Floodplain Systems Year-round.
- The GAP model includes dense pine only near its primary habitat.
Seasons in Virginia
- Year-round: nests here, in all 133 counties and cities.
Food plants
Diet records by plant genus, from studies across North America. Not a record from this state. Plants matched by genus.
Native plants in these genera 41
- Scarlet HawthornCrataegus coccinea
- Barberry HawthornCrataegus berberifolia
- Dodge's HawthornCrataegus dodgei
- Dotted HawthornCrataegus punctata
- Eastern HawthornCrataegus macrosperma
- Gattingers HawthornCrataegus pruinosa var. gattingeri
- Hill HawthornCrataegus collina
- One-flowered HawthornCrataegus uniflora
- Parsley HawthornCrataegus marshallii
- Pear HawthornCrataegus calpodendron
- Red HawthornCrataegus iracunda
- Rochester HawthornCrataegus beata
- Schuette's HawthornCrataegus schuettei
- Sunny HawthornCrataegus aprica
- Washington HawthornCrataegus phaenopyrum
- Clustered Hawthorn, Thames HawthornCrataegus compacta
- Crataegus aemulaCrataegus aemula
- Crayton's HawthornCrataegus craytonii
- Green HawthornCrataegus viridis var. viridis
- Margaret's HawthornCrataegus margarettae
- Pennsylvania HawthornCrataegus pennsylvanica
- Woolly Dwarf HawthornCrataegus pexa
- Woodland SunflowerHelianthus divaricatus
- Helianthus occidentalis subsp. occidentalisHelianthus occidentalis subsp. occidentalis
Plant genera in its diet records (5)
- Crataegus 1 diet record. 22 native plants in Virginia
- Helianthus 1 diet record. 10 native plants in Virginia
- Triticum 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
- Vitis 1 diet record. 9 native plants in Virginia
- Zea 1 diet record. 0 native plants in Virginia
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.
Floodplain and bottomland forests
Birds 86
- Lincoln's SparrowMelospiza lincolnii
- Snowy OwlBubo scandiacus
- Willow FlycatcherEmpidonax traillii
- Brewer's BlackbirdEuphagus cyanocephalus
- Northern WaterthrushSeiurus noveboracensis
- GadwallAnas strepera
- Yellow-throated WarblerDendroica dominica
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Glossy IbisPlegadis falcinellus
- Great CormorantPhalacrocorax carbo
- Least BitternIxobrychus exilis
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
Plants 381
- Elliott's BlueberryVaccinium elliottii
- Possumhaw HollyIlex decidua
- Cherrybark OakQuercus pagoda
- Appalachian Orange ConeflowerRudbeckia fulgida var. umbrosa
- Shagbark HickoryCarya ovata
- Southern Shagbark HickoryCarya carolinae-septentrionalis
- Spreading SedgeCarex laxiculmis
- Louisiana SedgeCarex louisianica
- Common Cup-plantSilphium perfoliatum
- Smooth Hedge-nettleStachys tenuifolia
- Virginia Cup-plantSilphium connatum
- Coville's PhaceliaPhacelia covillei
Dry forests and woodlands
Birds 68
- Pine WarblerDendroica pinus
- Red CrossbillLoxia curvirostra
- Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusilla
- 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
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
Moist forests
Birds 51
- Blackburnian WarblerDendroica fusca
- Blue-headed VireoVireo solitarius
- Black-throated Blue WarblerDendroica caerulescens
- Louisiana WaterthrushSeiurus motacilla
- Black-throated Green WarblerDendroica virens
- Canada WarblerWilsonia canadensis
- Cerulean WarblerDendroica cerulea
- Chuck-will's-widowCaprimulgus carolinensis
- Evening GrosbeakCoccothraustes vespertinus
- Northern Saw-whet OwlAegolius acadicus
- OvenbirdSeiurus aurocapilla
- Prothonotary WarblerProtonotaria citrea
Plants 363
- Gorge GoldenrodSolidago faucibus
- Mountain HollyIlex montana
- Smooth Blue AsterSymphyotrichum laeve
- Appalachian SnakerootAgeratina roanensis
- Sweet Scented Joe Pye WeedEutrochium purpureum var. purpureum
- Common Sweet White VioletViola incognita
- Fewflower Tick-trefoilHylodesmum pauciflorum
- Bigleaf MagnoliaMagnolia macrophylla
- Umbrella MagnoliaMagnolia tripetala
- Smooth Carrion-flowerSmilax herbacea
- Pointedleaf Tick-trefoilHylodesmum glutinosum
- Blue Ridge Hedge-nettleStachys subcordata
Sources
- USGS Gap Analysis Project habitat models (2001)
- USGS GAP year-round habitat model for White-breasted Nuthatch Elevation sea level to 1,524 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)
- Avian Diet Database (Hurlbert Lab) (CC0 1.0), diet records by plant genus
































































