I should have added in response to Al's queries that I'm sure the eastern
WA nuthatches represent the same population as the Okanagan valley ones,
and that that race (Sitta carolinensis tenuissima) occurs widely around the
Great Basin; it's replaced in the Rockies by S. c. nelsoni. The coastal
race S. c. aculeata becomes common south of Tacoma and extends down through
California. I don't know if tenuissima and aculeata come in contact, but I
suppose they might in southern Oregon or northern California. Oddly, w-b
nuthatches are characteristic of oaks farther south, as well as in
southwestern WA, but they seem to be ponderosa pine dwellers in Yakima and
Klickitat counties as well as elsewhere in eastern WA. Maybe there's a
phylogenetic separation between oakhatches and pinehatches....

Dennis "usually adequately ticked off" Paulson