‘Tis friends who make this desert world
To blossom as the rose;
Strew flowers o’er our rugged path,
Pour sunshine o’er our woes

Author unknown?

Tuesday, May 19, 2015

The Nuthatch


I have been spellbound by nuthatches since first I ever laid eyes on one while hiking along the Rugged Path.  I love his blue-grey back feathers, white breast and black cap.  His short tail helps him in spiralling up and down the trunk of a lofty white pine he evidently likes the seeds hidden inside the tree’s cones.  The seeds are only released from the mature cones and they are sought after by many birds and wee animals to the feast.   

Insectivorous, the Nuthatch also gleans larvae for tree trunks.  Nuthatches will also come to bird feeders in winter.  Suet appeals to them as well as shelled peanuts, “shelled and unsalted, S.V.P.”

His voice is distinctive and easily recognizable.  The bird guides describe the call of the White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta Carolinensis) as a “yank, yank, yank” which is exactly so.  He generally pals around with the Black Capped Chickadees, those friendly little woodland troubadours who will come to your hand for a peanut.  Nuthatch is hesitant to follow so I place a half peanut (shelled) in the crook of a tree limb where he readily accepts the offering.

 In this month of March, a Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta Canadensis) has been coming close but he is so tiny he is surely not an adult.  The white stripe separating his black cap from his black eye stripe confirms that he is the Red-breasted Nuthatch.   This little fellow is closer in size to the chickadee though his short tail makes him look stouter. I was mistaken in thinking he was a solitary waif.  There are in fact, two.  I suspect they are immature birds which begs the questions:  Where are their parents and nestlings, this early in the season?  The Black-capped Chickadees are evidently dear friends to the little birds. 

Normally his range is the sub-alpine forests of the far north dipping south in winters.  His voice is different from the White-breasted Nuthatch’s  Yank, Yank, Yank call.  His call is a little higher pitched with a tin flute quality.  National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America describes it as “a child’s tin horn”. 

I was mistaken about the Red-breasted Nuthatch being a solitary little fellow.  While trudging through the snow on the Rugged Path, there seemed many vocalizations between the little bird and at least one other of his kind, perhaps a prospective mate.

Nesting, according to bird guides requires a huge effort by the parents to successfully rear between 5 and 8 nestlings.  Both parents construct the nest in tree cavities, lining it with mosses and feathers and employing pine pitch and other tree saps smeared around the entrance to discourage insect invasion and perhaps also as a deterrent to predators.

His name is derived from his ability to hatch nuts.  He will place a nut in the crevice of tree bark and break it open with his long slender bill.

 

My cousins, who reside in southern Alberta have seen the Red-breasted Nuthatches as  regular visitors to their feeding stations this year too.I ventured to characterize the wee birds as quite tame but my cousins tell me the western race is “Cautious”.

 

In lore, Nuthatches were considered bewitched birds because of their habit of climbing downwards on tree trunks.  One of their common names is “the upside down bird”.  I think they are simply enchanting. 

 

For detailed and scientific information on Nuthatches, follow the link:



 

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