White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch male

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White-breasted Nuthatch female

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1. Description
2. Sound
3. Conservation Status
4. Other Names
5. Cool Facts
6. Full detailed species account

A common bird of deciduous forests and wooded suburbs, the White-breasted Nuthatch can be seen hopping headfirst down the trunks of trees in search of insect food. It frequents bird feeders and takes sunflower seeds off to the side of a tree, where it wedges them into a crevice and hammers them open.

Description

• Large nuthatch; creeps headfirst down tree trunks.
• Dark gray or black cap.
• Bright white face and underparts.
• Blue-gray upper parts.
• Long bill either straight or slightly upturned.

• Size: 13-14 cm (5-6 in)
• Wingspan: 20-27 cm (8-11 in)
• Weight: 18-30 g (0.64-1.06 ounces)

Sex Differences

Sexes similar; male with black cap, female with grayer cap.

Sound

Song a series of soft, slightly nasal "what, what, what" notes. Call a soft "yank.

Conservation Status

Common and widespread. Populations increasing over most of range.

Other Names

Sittelle à poitrine blanch (French)
Saltapalo blanco (Spanish)

Cool Facts

• Nuthatches gather nuts and seeds, jam them into tree bark, and hammer or "hatch" the food open with their bills.
• The White-breasted Nuthatch is normally territorial throughout the year, with pairs staying together. The male is more vigilant when he forages alone than when he is with the female. The female, however, is in danger of having the more dominant male displace her from foraging sites, and she is more vigilant when he is around than when she is alone.

• In winter, the White-breasted Nuthatch joins foraging flocks led by chickadees or titmice. One explanation for these flocks is that the birds gain protection from predators by the vigilance of the other birds. In support of this idea, one study found that if titmice were removed from a flock, nuthatches were more wary and reluctant to come to exposed bird feeders.

Sources used to construct this page:

1) Dolby, A. S. and T. C. Grubb, Jr. 2000. Social context affects risk taking by a satellite species in a mixed-species foraging group. Behavioral Ecology 11: 110-114.
2 ) Pravosudov, V. V., and T. C. Grubb, Jr. 1993. White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis). In The Birds of North America, No. 54 (A. Poole, and F. Gill, eds.). The Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, PA, and The American Ornithologists' Union, Washington, D.C.