White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

White-breasted nuthatch male (Sitta carolinensis)

Photo credit: Brad Sylvester, all rights reserved

 The white-breasted nuthatch and its cousin the red-breasted nuthatch, both use their long toenails to dig into bark and wood allowing them to hop along the sides of a tree-trunk, or even to hang upside down under a branch or overhang so comfortably they may make you wonder if they are immune to the effects of gravity. Using their sharply pointed beaks they dig into the nooks and crannies of tree bark or into soft deadwood to find insects much like a woodpecker. They don't typically dig deep holes into the trees or make loud knocking noises like many woodpeckers, but otherwise, their behaviors might seem similar.

The white-breasted nuthatch is most easily distinguished from the red-breasted by it facial markings, or its lack of facial markings. Both the male and female red-breasted nuthatch have a dark bar that runs directly through their eyes. The white-breasted nuthatch has no eye bar at all. Additionally, the male red-breasted nuthatch has a rufous/red breast and throat and a small, raised black crest on its head. The male white-breasted nuthatch has a smooth black cap that runs back to the nape of its neck, and, as its name suggests, has white feathers on its breast and throat areas.

One can also distinguish the male white-breasted nuthatch from the female of the species by the color of their caps. The male's will be black while the female's is grey.

These small birds are common visitors to backyard birdfeeders in New Hampshire, and, indeed, are often present at my feeders in the spring. They are a bit more shy than the black-capped chickadees that often accompany them around the feeder. Outside of breeding season, they will often form mixed flocks with chickadees and tufted titmice.

They have a very distinct song that reminds me a little of a hairy woodpecker's call. Listen to the white-breasted nuthatch's song at this link to Cornell University's All About Birds web site.

Note the long toe-nails of the white-breasted nuthatch. It uses
these long, curved talons to hold onto bark and wood, allowing
it to hop up and down vertical surfaces and hang upside-down.
Photo credit: Brad Sylvester, all rights reserved.

Introducing this resident of my yard gives me a good excuse to discuss the convention of hyphens in bird names. If there is a hyphen following an adjective in a bird's name (such as the color white), then the adjective refers directly to the bird's body part that follows the hyphen. For example, if we were to make up a couple of birds to demonstrate, the white-crested flyer would be a bird with a white crest although the rest of the bird might be any color. A white crested flyer (without the hyphen) would be a white bird with a crest of any color. Although in practice, word order is also used to help reduce ambiguity, so the second of our fictional creations would more likely be called the crested white flyer.

Quick Facts about the white-breasted nuthatch

What does the white-breasted nuthatch eat? It's diet consists of both insects and seeds, especially larger seeds and nuts. The bird gets its name, according to Sterry & Small's Birds of Eastern North America, from it's habit of tucking hard-shelled seeds and nuts into the bark of a tree and, then, hammering away until the meat of the hut "hatches" from the broken shell.

Where does the white-breasted nuthatch go in the winter? The white-breasted nuthatch is present throughout its entire range in both winter and summer without a significant migration. In the winter, it may move to search for the best food sources during harsh weather, but otherwise stays put. In the spring and summer, the bird establishes a home territory for nesting and raising its young.

Where does the white-breasted nuthatch live? The range of this species extends from southern Canada to most of the United States and down into inland Mexico. Although found along the east and west coasts of the United States, it is generally absent from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, according to Mitch Waite's iBird Pro 2 app for the Kindle.

What is the white-breasted nuthatch's preferred habitat? The white-breasted nuthatch is most commonly found in and alongside deciduous forests. Although it's range covers most of the United States, it is generally not present in the high mountains and plains where there is an absence of forestland.

What are its nesting habits? The white-breasted nuthatch, says iBird Pro 2, builds its nest inside woodpecker holes or natural cavities 10-60 feet high in trees. Inside the cavity, it builds a cup-shaped nest out of twigs, grass, hair, feathers and other similar materials that it may find. The female lays between three and ten eggs which are white or light pink on color with irregular brown, purple or red spotting. It takes about 12 days for the eggs to hatch according to iBird Pro 2.

What predators eat the white-breasted nuthatch? The adult birds may be eaten by owls and hawks. Bird eggs and helpless chicks can become targets of opportunity for many forest animals including snakes. Of course, the high, protected nest limits the number of predators that can reach the nest.

Is the white-breasted nuthatch an endangered species? No, the white-breasted nuthatch population is quite healthy and even increasing in size. Perhaps the increased availability of food from bird feeders during the winter months is helping the species to thrive (although I have no direct evidence or source for this speculation). The IUCN Redlist shows Sitta carolinensis as a species of Least Concern.

Taxonomy of the white-breasted nuthatch:

Kingdom: Animalia
Class: Chordata
Phylum: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sittidae
Genus: Sitta
Species: Sitta carolinensis