The Red-breasted Nuthatch is a small bird found in northern U.S. forests and western mountain ranges. It climbs headfirst down tree trunks and has a white eyebrow, a black eye stripe, and a rusty underside. It gives a repeated, nasal yank-yank call.
Appearance
Appearance
This small bird has a blue-gray back, a white eyebrow above a black eye stripe, and a rusty underside. Females tend to have a grayer cap and paler underside.
White-breasted Nuthatches (Sitta carolinensis) are larger, with a white underside and no bold black line through the eye. Red-breasted Nuthatches show a white eyebrow above a dark eye line.
Pygmy Nuthatches (Sitta pygmaea) lack the bold white eyebrow and black eye stripe, and their undersides are not rusty.
Where it lives
Typical habitats
Conifer forests
Mixed woods
Wooded yards
Range
It lives in Alaska, northern U.S. forests, and western mountain ranges. In Missouri it is mainly a winter visitor, while many northern and mountain populations remain year-round.
Seasonal presence
Its winter numbers in Missouri rise around September and usually fade by mid-May; southward movements vary with the cone crop.
Behavior
Diet
It picks insects from bark and takes seeds from cones. It also hides some food in bark cracks for later.
Social life
It sometimes joins chickadees and other small songbirds while looking for food.
Life cycle
Nest
Both adults dig a nest hole in soft wood and dab sticky conifer around the entrance, sometimes using bark to carry it.