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White-breasted Nuthatch

Status Uncommon resident. Breeds. Uncommon to rare throughout the year, distribution being general. Under natural conditions it is most frequently seen from August to late October. However, those who maintain feeding stations in winter frequently attract one or more that remain throughout the season as regular patrons, thus giving the erroneous impression that this bird is a common winter resident. There was an increase in the numbers reported in the mid-1970s, peaking in 1977-78. Since then sightings have decreased once more.

Description Length: 13-15 cm. Adult male: Upperparts pale bluish gray, except top of head and nape, which are glossy black; white patches near tip of otherwise black outer tail feathers; middle tail feathers bluish gray; underparts, including sides of head, white; undertail coverts rufous. Adult female: Similar but top of head bluish gray and nape glossy black.

Breeding Nest: In a hole in tree or stump or some other cavity; composed of dry grass and dead leaves, with a lining of soft grass and sometimes feathers. Nests are sometimes located in towns and other settled areas but usually are in wooded regions far from human habitation. Eggs: 4-8; creamy white, evenly spotted with various shades of rufous and lavender. The first nest found in Nova Scotia, at Wolfville, was located in a natural cavity in an apple tree about 3 m up and contained four slightly incubated eggs on 26 May 1929 (A.L. Rand). Another Wolfville pair used a small opening in the wainscoting under the eaves of a house for its nest site, which the young left on 10 June 1950 (Mrs. G.R. Forbes). Other nests in recent years have been in both artificial and natural sites.

Range Resident from southern interior British Columbia across southern Canada to Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, south to Mexico and the Gulf States.

Remarks The nuthatch is a dapper, busy little creature that never seems at ease but is always eagerly running up and down and over the trunks and larger limbs of trees as though searching for something and determined to find it.

Nuthatches, like woodpeckers, are adept at climbing. When woodpeckers move downward, they hitch down in an awkward, jerky manner, always tail first, but the "upside-down" birds, as nuthatches are sometimes called, race down head first.

Its common call is a nasal yank-yank-yank, given by both male and female. Another note that is heard occasionally, mostly in spring, is a more pleasing ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha, the syllables given in rapid succession.

The only other species with which it is likely to be confused are the Red-breasted Nuthatch and the Black-capped Chickadee. The Red-breasted Nuthatch is distinguished by its black eyestripe and its bright cinnamon underparts, and the chickadee has a black bib which nuthatches lack.