The Red-breasted Nuthatch is our most common species of nuthatch and can be easily seen in backyards all over the province. You should have no problem recognizing a Red-breasted, as it is about the size of a Chickadee, blue above, orangey below and will probably be clinging to the side of a tree. The Red-breasted Nuthatch can be readily attracted to any neighbourhood or yard that has medium sized trees for it to feed on. It is especially fond of evergreen trees as its bill is perfect for prying open cones to extract the nutritious seeds inside.

In years that large cone crops are produced, thousands of Red-breasted Nuthatches stage a winter invasion of the province; winter 1995-96 was a memorable one. If you are fortunate to have a cone laden tree in your yard, keep an eye on it for Red-breasted Nuthatches and other cone seed eating species. When feeding on the cones, instead of sitting on the branches of the tree, Red-breasteds often hang right onto the cone itself. Imagine dangling high up in the sky, upside down, holding only onto the cone you are tearing apart. If you do not have any evergreen trees in your yard, you can still entice nuthatches to visit by placing out suet. Red-breasted Nuthatches are also tame enough that you can, with a little patience, encourage them to take sunflower seeds from your hand.

Be sure and listen for the call of the Red-breasted as it is one of the most unusual bird sounds. It has been described as sounding as if the bird was tooting a tiny tin horn. Phonetically it sounds like the bird is saying "ank-ank." See if you can tell the male from the female. Both sexes have a dark blue line running through their eye and a blue cap. In the males, the line is the same shade as the cap while in the females the line is darker than the cap. Watch a Red-breasted when it flies, it may look strange to you as its tail is so short it looks like it is missing.

To learn more about the behaviour of nuthatches see White Breasted Nuthatch. And on the right is a nice photo of a Red Breasted Nuthatch taking a look around in its typical "run down the tree trunk" behavior.