British Nuthatch - 1949 status

Sitta europaea affinis

Mathew recorded only one, shot at Slebech, 7 Sept 1893.  W.M.Congreve saw it at Picton and Saundersfoot in 1908.  Now common in all wooded areas as a breeder, and wanders to small woods in sheltered valleys in exposed areas out of breeding season, eg Dinas Island and St Brides.

R.M.Lockley, G.C.S.Ingram, H.M.Salmon, 1949, The Birds of Pembrokeshire, The West Wales Field Society

Nuthatch - 2003-07

The Nuthatch is a sedentary bird, so it is likely that all summer records are of breeding birds. The estimate at the end of the survey of 1984-88 was made on this premise, suggesting an average density of three to four pairs per tetrad and a county population of 600 – 800 pairs. The higher of these figures accords with the average density used by the 1988-91 National Atlas  to calculate the UK population.

Since then the BBS has indicated a 76% increase in Wales between 1994 and 2007. If the BBS findings are applied to the number of occupied tetrads registered by the survey of 2003-07, using a density of four pairs per tetrad, a population estimate of 1,500 pairs in Pembrokeshire emerges.  

 Graham Rees

Fieldwork 2003-07 (based on 490 tetrads) 

Red = breeding confirmed = 84

Orange = breeding probable = 109

Yellow = breeding possible = 21

Total tetrads in which registered = 214 (43.7%)

Nuthatch - 1994

Breeding resident

Formerly rare in Pembrokeshire, Mathew (1894) knew of only one occurrence, a bird shot at Slebech in September 1893. However, Tracy, a contemporary bird-stuffer, considered Nuthatches to be "tolerably common". W.M. Congreve found them at Picton and Saundersfoot in 1908 while Lloyd commented "not so scarce as supposed, increasing apparently" and his diaries for 1927-1934 document a wide distribution. Lockley et al. (1949) stated that they were common breeders in all wooded areas of the county.

Nuthatches were found breeding in most woodlands during the Breeding Birds Survey of 1984-1988, as well as in more open habitat where mature trees grow along hedgebanks and in gardens. An estimated average density of three to four pairs per occupied tetrad suggests a total county population of 600-800 pairs.

They accompany roving tit flocks outside the breeding season and have reached Skomer (but not the other islands) on three occasions, 28 August and 8 September 1986 and 30 July 1990.

Fieldwork 1984-88 (based on 478 tetrads) 

Red = breeding confirmed = 65

Orange = breeding probable = 87

Yellow = breeding possible = 47

Total tetrads in which registered = 199 (41.6%)

Donovan J.W. & Rees G.H (1994), Birds of Pembrokeshire

Nuthatch - 1970s breeding

Red = breeding confirmed

Orange = breeding probable

Yellow = breeding possible

Nuthatch - 1980s winter atlas

 

The BTO winter atlas showed that Nuthatches were present in most 10km squares during the winters of 1981-82, 1982-82 and 1983-84.

The darker the colour, the higher the relative total count for each 10km square.  The darkest blue represents over 4-7 birds.

However, it should be noted that the figures show a high correlation with the number of recording cards returned (therefore related to recording effort) for each 10km square. 

Graham Rees

Nuthatch - 1894

Species account from M Mathew, 1894, "The Birds of Pembrokeshire and its islands"

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