
Photo: Rejoice Gassah · CC BY 4.0
Sitta frontalis
Diet
Insects in tree bark
Habitat
Forests with good tree cover
Size
12-13.5cm
It is violet-blue above with lavender cheeks, buffy grey underparts, yellow eyes, a whitish throat and an orange-red to bright red bill with a black patch on the forehead and lores. Adult males have a black stripe above and behind the eye that females lack (Wikipedia, general species account).
It feeds on insects in tree bark, and its strongly clawed toes let it climb down trunks or move under horizontal branches. It lives in forests with good tree cover, often in mixed-species foraging flocks, has a rapid chipping call and breeds in tree cavities often made by woodpeckers or barbets.