Name: Red-Breasted Nuthatch

Description: Slightly smaller than the White-Breasted Nuthatch, the Red-Breasted Nuthatch is common across Canada. While some Red-Breasted Nuthatches will spend the winter within their breeding range, others migrate further south. Its breeding range extends from southeastern Alaska east to Newfoundland, south to the Carolinas. It also breeds in Michigan, Colorado and southern California, occasionally wintering as far south as the Gulf Coast, Florida and northern Mexico.

Other Names: Canada Nuthatch, Devil-Down-Head, Red-Bellied Nuthatch, Red-Breasted Nuthatche, Topsy-Turvy-Bird

Color: It is easy to distinguish the Red-Breasted Nuthatch because of its white face and throat. A strong black line runs through the eye to the back, leaving a white line above. The adult male sports a black crown and nape, with dull blue upper parts and under parts of a rust or cinnamon color. Females look similar but the black is duller and under parts more pale.

Sound: Red-Breasted Nuthatches make a soft nasal “nyaa-nyaa” sound.

Preferred Environment: Red-Breasted Nuthatches favor coniferous and mixed wood forests, although during migration they are sometimes found in deciduous trees.

Nesting Habits: The Red-Breasted Nuthatch will excavate a nest cavity in an aspen or decaying cottonwood not far from coniferous trees. It may also choose a spruce tree trunk, a decaying tree, stump or post. It likes to smear spruce or pine pitch around the entrance, possibly for protection from ants and snakes.

Food Preference: Red-Breasted Nuthatches feed on insects and sunflower seed.