For the Birds: Bugs Beware – Nuthatches on Duty

Nuthatch on fountain. Photo by Christine Southwick

By Christine Southwick

If you see an energetic small bluish bird with a black eyestripe zig-zagging headfirst down your trees, your trees are being gleaned of bugs and protected by Red-breasted Nuthatches.

Red-breasted Nuthatches eat beetles, spiders, ants, caterpillars, earwigs, and other tasties and feed these to their nestlings. They actively devour spruce budworm. These delightful birds readily come to feeders for peanuts, sunflower seeds and suet. In the winter they also eat conifer seeds, and any of those seeds/peanuts that they cached earlier.

Note: The theme for this year’s International Migratory Day is “Protect Insects - Protect Birds”.

Photo by Christine Southwick

These nuthatches build their nests in softer wood, especially in dead or dying trees, trees with dead tops or even just a softer space under a dying branch. They prefer conifer forests. They especially like cottonwood and alder that are near pines, firs, or cedars.

It is unusual for a non-woodpecker to excavate a nest hole, but both the female and male Red-breasted Nuthatches do this excavating. After they have lined the nest, they smear pine resin around their entrance hole, a unique practice to deter predators. The parents fly directly into the hole to avoid that goo.

Both feed their young 18-21 days in the nest, and then for two weeks after they fledge. She may have up to eight eggs and stays silent while on the eggs. The male feeds her while she is on the nest.

When these nestlings fledge you can track where they are by their loud tin-horn sounding “Yank, Yank.” Red-Breasted Nuthatches don’t have a song per se, their contact calls resemble something like a tin horn, which makes them easy to locate.

Nuthatch photo by Christine Southwick

They prefer to make their own nest holes, but they occasionally use nest boxes. They are fussy about sizing and aging (a preferred nest box mimics their deep, often 8-inch cavity) so it is better to put a nestbox up over the winter, which also offers shelter for local birds.

Save snag trees for the birds. Loss of habitat includes suitable trees for all kinds of cavity nesters.

When you hear their “Yank, yank” calls, especially if a brood has fledged, look for these delightful birds learning to use your suet.