Red-breasted Nuthatch

Overview

The red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) is a small passerine bird that is primarily a resident of northern and subalpine conifer forests. It is classified as a species of Least Concern by the IUCN due to its large global range and increasing population.

Identification

• Blue-grey upperparts and underparts that are rust-coloured in males and duller in females, with a white supercilium.
• Black cap and eye-line contrasting with a white throat and face.
• A straight, grey bill and legs, with a wingspan of 8.5 in (22 cm).
• Call is high-pitched, nasal and weak, transcribed as yenk or ink, often likened to a toy tin horn.

Habitat

This species breeds in coniferous forests across Canada, Alaska, and the northeastern and western United States. Although it is often a permanent resident, it regularly irrupts further south when food supplies fail, with vagrants occasionally reaching as far as the Gulf Coast and northern Mexico.

Diet

The bird forages on tree trunks and large branches, often descending headfirst and walking on the underside of limbs without using its tail as a prop. Its diet shifts seasonally from insects, occasionally flycatched in summer, to conifer seeds in winter. It frequently wedges food pieces into bark crevices to break them open with its bill.

Did you know?

The common name 'nuthatch' is a linguistic corruption of 'nuthack', referencing the bird's habit of wedging nuts into cracks in tree bark and hacking them until they break open.