A small nuthatch with distinct rusty-red underparts. Highly migratory; irrupts southward in winter when northern food fails.
§ Quick facts
§ Encyclopedia
The red-breasted nuthatch is a small songbird. The adult has blue-grey upperparts with cinnamon underparts, a white throat and face with a black stripe through the eyes, a straight grey bill and a black crown. Its call, which has been likened to a tin trumpet, is high-pitched and nasal. It breeds in coniferous forests across Canada, Alaska and the northeastern and western United States. Though often a permanent resident, it regularly irrupts further south if its food supply fails. There are records of vagrants occurring as far south as the Gulf Coast and northern Mexico. It forages on the trunks and large branches of trees, often descending head first, sometimes catching insects in flight. It eats mainly insects and seeds, especially from conifers. It excavates its nest in dead wood, often close to the ground, smearing the entrance with pitch.
Source: Wikipedia — Red-breasted nuthatch Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
§ Identification
Field marks. Small nuthatch with a black cap and eye-line separated by a white eyebrow, a rusty-orange breast, and a blue-gray back.
Similar species. White-breasted Nuthatch is larger with a clean white face and no eye-line; the Red-breasted's bold black eye-line and rusty underparts are diagnostic.
Voice. A nasal, tinny, repeated 'yank-yank' like a tiny toy horn, higher than White-breasted.
§ Diet & behavior
Diet. Insects, seeds, nuts; caches food in bark crevices.
Behavior. An energetic nuthatch of conifer forest that smears sticky conifer resin around its nest hole (perhaps to deter predators); irrupts far south in winters of conifer-seed failure.
§ Range
Boreal North America; winters southward
§ Habitat
Coniferous and mixed forests
§ Threats
Boreal forest loss, climate change.
§ Conservation status
According to the IUCN Red List, the red-breasted nuthatch is currently classified as Least Concern.
§ What helps
Plant native conifers. Support northern forest conservation.
§ Further reading
- Wikipedia — Red-breasted nuthatch
- www.allaboutbirds.org — authoritative profile of Sitta canadensis
- IUCN Red List — search for Sitta canadensis
- GBIF occurrence records
- Encyclopedia of Life — Sitta canadensis
§ Sources cited
- Cornell Lab of Ornithology — All About Birds
- National Audubon Society
- iNaturalist
- IUCN Red List
