A White-breasted Nuthatch at the Feeder

The day was brighter but still breezy yesterday.  I partially refilled the bird feeder as I am very low on seed.  The smaller birds did not mind the quarter-filled feeder at all.  I saw a few House Finches, a Tufted Titmouse and a pair of the nuthatches.  This series of pictures today is on one of the White-breasted Nuthatches that came to the bird feeder in the afternoon.  They are intelligent and interesting little birds.

The White-breasted Nuthatches are nearly woodpecker-like in looks and behavior.  Perhaps that is why I like them so much.  As you probably know, I am really crazy for the woodpeckers.  So a pair of White-breasted Nuthatches does well as a substitute to watch when the woodpeckers fail to show up!  I took these pictures on November 8, 2012 in my yard.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

A White-breasted Nuthatch at the Bird Feeder

White-breasted Nuthatches have made my Oak Trees their home this past year.  There are a small flock here.  They sure do enjoy quickly grabbing a snack of Millet or Sunflower Seed from the bird feeder.  They fly fast from the Oak to the feeder, take a seed, then they perch on the porch railing and eat the seed or crack the Sunflower Seed’s shell.  They are chatty birds with a woodpecker-like habit of calling out a thin, high, “Chif-chif” sound.  They are also woodpecker-like in that they have very long, curved, strong claws on their toes.  The nuthatches use the claws to hold fast to the bark of the trees when upside down, sideways or even upright.  They are amusingly acrobatic!  I took these pictures on Tuesday, August 7, 2012 in my yard.  So sorry for the late post – computer maintenance was being done earlier on my system.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger photograph.  Enjoy!

The Nuthatch

There are several White-Breasted Nuthatches here that live in the Oak grove that is next to the little farm pond.  These tiny birds are a lovely grey, white and black with a long pointed bill and appealing eyes.  They behave a lot like woodpeckers do but are not actually a woodpecker.  They eat seeds, nuts and occasional insects.  They make a thin high trill that is slightly like a Downy Woodpecker’s trill.  The White-Breasted Nuthatches here will often fly from the Oaks to the bird feeder, and will even wait patiently on the porch railing if there are larger birds eating.

The nuthatches will sometimes eat with the Brown-Headed Cow Birds, the House Finches, and the Northern Cardinals, but dislike the male Red-Winged Blackbirds.  I took these pictures on April 17, 2012 and again on April 28, 2012 in my yard and from my living room window.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger photograph.  Enjoy!

Friday’s Look at the Songbirds

A variety of different songbirds come to my yards daily.  I have several of these that are also regulars at the bird feeder.  I often see Red-bellied Woodpeckers, House Finches, Eastern Bluebirds, Robins, White-breasted Nuthatches and Brown-Headed Cowbirds.  I took these pictures in my yard and from my living room window at various times between April 18-25, 2012.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

White-Breasted Nuthatches

I took these pictures of the little White-Breasted Nuthatch in my yard on February 17, 2012, and again on February 18, 2012.  The tiny birds were walking all around small branches of  large Oaks next to the pond.  White-Breasted Nuthatches live here in the Oaks.  They find small hollowed out spots in the trunks of the trees and make themselves at home.  These birds are white with grey backs and heads.  They have slender pointed bills that they use to find insects and seeds to eat.  They also enjoy eating berries, and some fruits.  The White-Breasted Nuthatches make a sound that is quite similar to the sounds that the Red-Bellied Woodpeckers make, a rapid-fire “chiff-chiff-chiff-chiff” that is thin, and soft. The nuthatches have discovered my newly installed bird feeder near my porch.  I am always happy to see the White-Breasted Nuthatches out and about!  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  I sure hope you’ll enjoy these pictures of the acrobats in action!

Nuts About Nuthatches

White-Breasted Nuthatches are amazing acrobatic birds.  Nuthatches are truly agile, entertaining and just plain cute!  These are insect eaters but also enjoy a treat of seeds, nuts or fruit.  They have a tiny grey white and black body with a long slender and sharp bill.  The nuthatches have strong curved claws which are used to hang on to the bark of the tree that they are working and living in.  The preferred trees here where I live are mostly hardwoods such as Oaks and Hickories.

Nuthatches have a sound quite similar to the Downy Woodpecker.  They sound like a high pitched, thin and quiet “Cha-cha-cha” or even a clipped “Chip-chip”, that is repeated.  White-breasted Nuthatches are a creamy grey-white on their undersides with darker grey on their backs and head.  Both genders tend to look-alike.  I like watching the nuthatches here walking up, down, and even upside down in the trees.  I have a resident pair that live in a hollowed-out hole in one of the pond-side Oaks.  I took these pictures in my yard on Jan. 25, 2012, and also on Jan. 29, 2012.   Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

White-breasted Nuthatches

Yesterday I saw three different White-breasted Nuthatches.  I noticed in my camera’s viewfinder that one of the nuthatches had come out of a tiny hole in an Oak.  I knew that woodpeckers lived in cavities in tree trunks but I had not considered that the nuthatches also may recycle an existing woodpecker hole for their own.  How interesting!  I don’t know if the nuthatches live in that hole or this one  is visiting, or they  use the hole for a food cache.

The other two White-breasted Nuthatches were also up in Oaks.  These were chatting away with the typical “Chip-chip” sound that these birds make.  The White-breasted Nuthatch eats small insects, spiders, and small seeds, nuts and fruits.  They seem to be social with other small birds, especially the smaller woodpeckers.  I did see two Red-bellied Woodpeckers along in the same area as these two Nuthatches.  I saw all three nuthatches in different trees.  I am pleased to see the birds here in the yard as it has warmed up a bit.  It had been very cold here early in the week.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

A Chatty White-breasted Nuthatch

I saw this sassy cute little White-breasted Nuthatch the other day high in the Oaks in the yard at my lake house.  The nuthatch was chatting away.  It has a sound that is a soft and thin, clipped “chip-chip” or “Chiff-chiff” that is repeated.  The nuthatches eat insects but also eat seeds, nuts and sometimes, fruit.  The bird has a long slender bill, similar to that of the woodpeckers.  The habits of this bird are similar to those of woodpeckers, too.  Nuthatches have long curved claws which they use to climb up down and even upside down on branches and tree trunks.  They use that long bill to ferret-out insects from the bark of trees and also to push seeds and nuts into crevices in the bark for storage.

The White-breasted Nuthatch is a light grey with lots of white on its underside.  It is a small bird.  They hang around with other small birds such as chickadees, finches, titmice and sometimes, the smaller woodpeckers.  I took these pictures on December 23, 2011 in my yard at the lake home.   Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

More Views of the White Breasted Nuthatch

Yesterday, I showed a photo of a White-breasted Nuthatch that I saw in the Oaks near where the Red-bellied Woodpeckers were.  I took these pictures during that same time.  The little Nuthatch was chattering away.  Apparently the Nuthatch was conversing with other Nuthatches nearby or maybe it was talking or trying to talk with the Woodpeckers.  Who knows?  I am betting that it was calling its mate in another nearby tree (I did not hear others or see them but likely they were around).  Birds tend to flock together even if only in very small groups.  Safety in numbers is the key.  I was glad to see the birds on that rainy afternoon.  It rained hard yesterday and I did not see any birds but for a trio of Crows.  So, here are the pictures of the little Nuthatch.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!

The Little White-breasted Nuthatches

White-breasted Nuthatches are here in my Oaks once in a while.  They are such cuties!  Acrobatic, nimble, chatty and totally sweet, they are especially nice to have around.  These little grey, white and black birds are able to creep and crawl on the bark of large trees and can climb even upside down!  The White-breasted Nuthatches are insect eaters but do enjoy seeds and nuts as well.  The Nuthatches make a sound that is a little softer than that of the Red-bellied Woodpecker, a high-pitched “Chiff-chiff-chiff” (at least that is my recollection of the sound).  I took the top picture in November and the three bottom photographs last week.  This week it seems like the only birds here are the Starlings and the Bluebirds (Crows this AM too).  We will see.  Please click on the thumbnail image to see the larger picture.  Enjoy!