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White-breasted Nuthatch

(Sitta carolinensis)

Photo: Ron Austing

Size             : 5 - 6 inches long (13 - 15 cm)
Description      : Male   - Blue-gray above, with black accents on wings and tail;
                            face and underparts, white; crown, black 
                   Female - Like male
                 
Preferred Habitat: Deciduous and mixed forests, suburbs
Preferred food   : Ants, beetles, flies, locust, spiders, and scale insects and their eggs; 
                   Maple, pine, and fir seeds, beechnuts, acorns, hickory nuts, mountain ash and 
                   juniper berries, apples, and sunflower seeds, suet, squash and pumpkin seeds, 
                   nutmeats, and raw carrots
Breeding Range   : British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia, south to Florida, the Gulf coast, and Mexico
Winter Range     : Permanent resident in breeding range
Interesting Facts: - Word 'nuthatch' is from the Middle English for 'nut hacker'. Watching a nuthatch eat, will
                     explain how it got its name: It flies off with a seed, wedges it in a crevice, and
                     hits it with its beak until the seed or nut splits
                   - Has habit of hiding small nuggets of seed or suet in crevices of trees for future use
                   - Most common nuthatch in the entire U.S., found everywhere except for a strip from the plains to Mexico
                   - Consistently goes down tree trunks head first, hence the nickname,'upside-down bird'.
                   - Travelling on a tree in the opposite direction of all other birds, gives it a different view of 
                     the bark, allowing it to find insects missed by the others
                   - Mates for life
                   - Useful bird, especially in orchards, as it eats many insects
                   - Nests in cavities, but readily comes to nest boxes mounted about 15 ft. above ground
                   - Easily hand-tamed
                   - Often seen in company of downy woodpeckers, kinglets, chickadees, and brown creepers
                   - During breeding season, each pair claims an area of 25 to 50 acres
                   - Female builds the nest of bark and grasses, twigs, rootlets and feathers; lining is hair,
                     sometimes plucked from a live animal
                   - Male brings the female building materials
                   - Male feeds female while she sits on the nest 
                   - Call sounds like a nasal, 'yank, yank, yank'; song is a series of low whistled notes