• Summary
• Text account
• Data table and detailed info
• Distribution map
• Reference and further resources

Taxonomic note

Sitta pusilla and S. insularis (del Hoyo and Collar 2016) were previously lumped as S. pusilla following AOU (1998 & supplements), Sibley & Monroe (1990, 1993) and Stotz et al. (1996).

Taxonomic source(s)
del Hoyo, J., Collar, N.J., Christie, D.A., Elliott, A., Fishpool, L.D.C., Boesman, P. and Kirwan, G.M. 2016. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Volume 2: Passerines. Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge, UK.

Red List criteria met

Critically Endangered	Endangered	Vulnerable
A2ac; B1ab(iii,v); C2a(i,ii); D	A2ac; B1ab(iii,v); C2a(i,ii); D	A2ac; B1ab(iii,v); C2a(i,ii); D1+2

Red List history

Year	Category	Criteria
2020	Critically Endangered	A2ac; B1ab(iii,v); C2a(i,ii); D
2018	Critically Endangered	A2a; B1ab(iii,v); C2a(i,ii); D
2016	Endangered	C2a(ii)
2012	Not Recognised
2008	Not Recognised
2004	Not Recognised
2000	Not Recognised
1994	Not Recognised
1988	Not Recognised

Migratory status	not a migrant	Forest dependency	medium
Land-mass type		Average mass	10 g

	Estimate	Data quality
Extent of Occurrence (breeding/resident)	80 km2	medium
Number of locations	1	-
Severely fragmented?	no	-

	Estimate	Data quality	Derivation	Year of estimate
Population size	1-49 mature individuals	good	estimated	2019
Population trend	decreasing	-	estimated	-
Rate of change over the past 10 years/3 generations (longer of the two periods)	90-99%	-	-	-
Generation length	2.23 years	-	-	-
Number of subpopulations	1	-	-	-
Percentage of mature individuals in largest subpopulation	100%	-	-	-

Population justification: In 2018, following Hurricane Matthew (2016), four days of intensive surveys for the Bahama Nuthatch, covering all sites where the species has been recorded in recent years, failed to find any individuals (B. Harris in litt. 2018, Reid 2018). Furthermore, once per month for a year, a local bird guide visited one of the main sites where the species was previously recorded, without recording any individuals (B. Harris in litt. 2018). In spring and summer 2018 however, extensive foot surveys by two teams resulted in a small number of sightings of the species with a single report of two individuals being sighted together (UEA 2018, Hermes and Sessa-Hawkins 2019). In late summer 2019 however, another Category 5 hurricane, Dorian, the second largest Atlantic hurricane on record, hit the island of Grand Bahama causing further severe damage to the species's habitat. The species has not been sighted since Hurricane Dorian hit and extensive surveys are urgently required to establish whether the extremely small number of remaining individuals survived this event (Bell 2019). The small number of recent sightings, and possibility that no individuals survived this latest hurricane, mean that any remaining population is likely extremely small; thus it is placed here in the band 1-49 mature individuals.

Trend justification: The population size was previously estimated at 1,800 individuals (equating to approximately 1,200 mature individuals) in 2004 (Hayes et al. 2004). The very few sightings recorded in spring and summer 2018 following Hurricane Matthew (2016), and the absence of records following Hurricane Dorian (2019), indicate that the population has declined rapidly and is now estimated to number no more than 50 mature individuals, and likely considerably fewer (UEA 2018, Bell 2019, Hermes and Sessa-Hawkins 2019). This represents a population reduction in excess of 90% over a ten year period.

Country/Territory	Presence	Origin	Resident	Breeding visitor	Non-breeding visitor	Passage migrant
Bahamas	extant	native	yes

Country/Territory	IBA Name

Habitat (level 1)	Habitat (level 2)	Importance	Occurrence
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Dry	major	resident
Forest	Subtropical/Tropical Swamp	suitable	resident
Altitude		Occasional altitudinal limits

Threat (level 1)	Threat (level 2)	Impact and Stresses
Biological resource use	Logging & wood harvesting - Unintentional effects: (subsistence/small scale) [harvest]	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Climate change & severe weather	Storms & flooding	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Very Rapid Declines		High Impact: 9
		Stresses Species disturbance, Ecosystem degradation, Reduced reproductive success, Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Pantherophis guttatus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Passer domesticus	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Competition, Reduced reproductive success
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Procyon lotor	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Whole (>90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Species mortality
Invasive and other problematic species, genes & diseases	Invasive non-native/alien species/diseases - Sturnus vulgaris	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Unknown		Unknown
		Stresses Competition, Reduced reproductive success
Residential & commercial development	Housing & urban areas	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Majority (50-90%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Medium Impact: 6
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion
Transportation & service corridors	Roads & railroads	Timing		Scope		Severity		Impact
		Ongoing		Minority (<50%)		Slow, Significant Declines		Low Impact: 5
		Stresses Ecosystem degradation, Ecosystem conversion

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Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Species factsheet: Bahama Nuthatch Sitta insularis. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/factsheet/bahama-nuthatch-sitta-insularis on 22/11/2024.
Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2024) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/species/search on 22/11/2024.