Red-breasted Nuthatch

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Red-breasted Nuthatch

Red-breasted Nuthatches are tiny, active birds of north woods and western mountains. Their excitable yank-yank calls sound like tiny tin horns being honked in the treetops.

They creep up, down, and sideways without regard for which way is up, and they don’t lean against their tail the way woodpeckers do. Flight is short and bouncy.

In summer, Red-breasted Nuthatches eat mainly insects and other arthropods such as beetles, caterpillars, spiders, ants, and earwigs, and they raise their nestlings on these foods. In fall and winter they tend to eat conifer seeds, including seeds they cached earlier in the year. They also eat from feeders, taking peanuts, sunflower seeds, and suet.

Female Red-breasted Nuthatches usually choose the nest site. Both sexes excavate the nest, but the female does more than the male. Excavation can take up to 18 days and yields a cavity between 2.5 and 8 inches deep. The female then builds a bed of grass, bark strips, and pine needles and lines it with fur, feathers, fine grasses or shredded bark. They will have clutch sizes from 2-8 with an incubation period from 12-13 days.

Red-breasted Nuthatches move quickly and in any direction across tree trunks and branches. Red-breasted Nuthatches are aggressive birds that sometimes dominate larger birds at feeders.

Males court females by turning their backs to them, singing, and swaying from side to side with crest feathers raised, or by flying together in an exaggerated display of slowly fluttering wings or long glides. Males feed females while the females excavate nest cavities. Red-breasted (Information from allaboutbirds.org).

Fun Facts:
1. Red-breasted Nuthatches hoard excess food by wedging nuts into bark and then hammering them in with its bill.
2. They apply sticky conifer resin to the entrance of its nest hole. The male puts the resin on the outside of the hole while the female puts it around the inside. It may help to keep out predators or competitors.
3. They sometimes use tools in nest building. They will carry resin back to their nest on a piece of bark and then use the bark as an applicator, as they apply resin inside and outside the nest hole.
4. They have a greatly enlarged hind toe and a short tail, which help them climb up and down trees.
5. A group of nuthatches are collectively known as a "jar" of nuthatches.
6. Unlike the treecreeper, which only moves up the trunk of a tree, nuthatches will move both up and down.
7. They will steal nest-lining from the nests of other birds, including Pygmy Nuthatches and Mountain Chickadees.
8. There are four species of nuthatches in North America: the Brown-headed Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Red-breasted Nuthatch and White-breasted Nuthatch.
9. The red-breasted nuthatch is an aggressive defender of its nesting cavity, especially during building. It chases away much larger birds, such as the downy woodpecker, and has been observed bullying the very aggressive house wren.
10. There are 17 species of true nuthatches in North America and Eurasia.
11. This is the only North American nuthatch that has a broad black stripe through the eye and a white stripe above it.
12. During courtship, males sing up to 50 times per minute from the tops of trees and potential nest trees. They also bring food to the female during courtship.

https://youtu.be/bt_kx5-NgGc
https://youtu.be/9VAycXuRSZM

Timestamps
1. Intro 0:00
2. Adult 0:12
3. Upside down 0:19
4. In tree 0:27
5. Adult feeding fledglings 0:33
6. Adult and several fledglings 0:49
7. Fledgling being fed 0:59
8. Fledgling close-up 1:07
9. Adult 1:15