Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Boisterous White-Breasted Nuthatch
By: Tom Berg
When it comes to energetic and highly animated birds in the back yard, one of the first species that comes to mind is the white-breasted nuthatch. This small, sparrow-sized bird is bluish-gray on its back with a black cap on top of its head, and a bright white breast, face and underparts. There is usually a small chestnut brown patch under its tail, too.
White-breasted nuthatches have the remarkable ability to hang upside down on tree branches and tree trunks. They have a very large clawed toe that faces backwards, while its other three toes face forward. This large backwards claw allows the bird to move down the tree trunk head-first while they search for insects. During the winter, though, their diets switches to mostly seeds and nuts.
White-breasted nuthatches are easily attracted to back yard bird feeders, especially if they contain black oil sunflower seeds. Peanuts and suet cakes also attract them, and unlike some birds that sit and eat at the feeder, the nimble nuthatches swoop in, grab a seed, and fly off to a nearby tree to eat it. In the case of sunflower seeds, they often wedge the seed into the bark of a tree trunk and hammer the shell open with their sharp beak. Then it’s back to the feeder for more!
During the winter, white-breasted nuthatches also like to hide seeds to eat later when food is scarce. Many bird species do this, and the nuthatches are experts. They wedge sunflower seeds into tiny crevices in the bark of nearby trees and then come back for a free meal later. They even wedge much larger acorns into holes and gaps in tree trunks so they can eat them later.
When two or three white-breasted nuthatches are using the same bird feeder, it often looks like an unending parade of birds flying back and forth. If other birds are also using the feeder and getting in their way, the nuthatches voice their disapproval with their loud and distinctive chattering call. But then they usually barge in and grab a seed, anyway. These rowdy birds don’t like to wait in line!
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