Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch (Sitta cinnamoventris) is a rare and little known bird in Thailand. There are only very few sites in the north where it is known to occur. Traditionally, most birders look for this species at Doi Phu Kha in Nan province. However, my friend found and photographed a pair of birds at Ban Khun Lao, Wiang Pa Pao district in Chiang Rai back in 2012 (https://ebird.org/checklist/S100075279) suggesting that the species also occurs along the Doi Khun Tan mountain range. I had always suspected that the area between Thep Sadet in Chiang Mai and the eastern side of Doi Khun Tan range in Lampang would hold another population of this mysterious bird. Finally, a local birder photographed a male bird just behind a coffee shop in Ban Mae Chaem, Mueang Pan district, Lampang in February this year.
After receiving the news, I quickly made my way to the site on the following day. After spending some time looking around the area where the bird was originally reported without any luck, I decided to search in other places. I finally came across a singing male which showed superbly for over half an hour. It mostly stayed in the tall canopy while constantly singing its loud and sweet song. There was only one brief moment when it followed the Velvet-fronted Nuthatches down along the tree trunk and allowed some good views at close range. I also saw the female briefly but failed to get any photo of it. The female looked similar to the male but had paler and duller underparts.
In the past, the Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch was widely regarded as conspecific with the Burmese Nuthatch (Sitta neglecta). However, these two look significantly different, and do not share any overlapping habitat. The area where I found the Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch was montane evergreen forest at about 1,000 m above sea level, which is typical for this species. On the other hand, the Burmese Nuthatch is a bird of dry deciduous forest and sometimes pine forest. They are now widely accepted as two different species.
Even though we now know that the Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch does occur along Doi Khun Tan range, it is still far from being an easy bird to find. From my observations along with other birders who have visited the area, it is clear that the species only occurs in very low density compared to other nuthatches like Velvet-fronted and Chestnut-vented Nuthatch which are common in the same area. So far, fewer than 5 singing males have been recorded in the area between Thep Sadet and Ban Mae Chaem. Maybe we still haven’t fully figured out the habitat preferences or distribution along the mountain range. It’s always exciting to try and find out more about such little known birds.
ayuwat 
Excellent as always.. thanks