Object Status:
Extant
Accession Date:
By 1799
Primary Source Reference:
Charles Willson Peale, Lecture on Natural History 19. (ca. 1799). Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40. / https://ansp.org/research/library/archives/0000-0099/coll0040/
Additional Source Text:
Charles Willson Peale (1741-1827) wrote, in his 19th Lecture (ca. 1799): "332. Black head, or Canadian Nuthatch. I am induced to suppose it came from that country, as it was found here in the winter when the weather had been very severe. It fell dead in Philada, at a gentleman's feet, who presented it to me. Head black with light line above and below the Eyes; the back cenerious. The belly under part of the body rusty white; wing quils dark, margined with grey; tail the same. Sitta Canadensis Linn. Torche pot du Canada Buff. pl. enl. 623. f. 2. The tail not quite like." Peale wrote, in "A Walk Through the Philad[elphi]a Museum" (1805–1806) (Historical Society of Pennsylvania, coll. 0481): "Canada Nuthatch (S. canadensis). This specimen fell dead at a gentleman's feet in a severe season of winter in Philada." (Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University Archives, coll. 40)
Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) described this species under the name "Red-bellied Black-capt Nuthatch / Sitta varia" in American Ornithology, vol. 1 (1808: 43, Pl. 2), but did not cite any Peale Museum specimen. / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175530#page/59/mode/1up (text) / https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/175530#page/44/mode/1up (plate)
An unmounted specimen of "Sitta canadensis (Canada Nuthatch)" was listed in "A Catalogue of Duplicate Specimens...", May 1822. [unpublished] American Philosophical Society Library (Mss.B.P31).
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Current Common Name:
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Current Scientific Name
Sittidae | Sitta canadensis
