Hopping up and down tree trunks and branches across North America is a goofy bird species that’s hard not to like: The White-breasted Nuthatch. White-breasted Nuthatches are compact looking with a short tail, essentially no visible neck, and a slightly upturned bill. This stocky appearance along with their dark colored eyes make them look like little flying sharks. In terms of coloration, White-breasted Nuthatches have a grayish-blue back and wings with darker gray to black on the wing feathers. They have a black cap, white cheeks, and a white underside. Females have slightly lighter colored caps and both males and females have rusty colored markings on their underside behind their legs, and sometimes even the flanks. While they may look and even behave similar to woodpeckers, nuthatches are actually a separate grouping of birds with four different species being found in the continental United States. 

White-breasted Nuthatches are extremely widespread in North America, residing year-round in Central Mexico, parts of southern Canada, and in most U.S. states with the highest concentrations of the species occurring east of the Mississippi River. According to range maps, there is some migratory movement of White-breasted Nuthatches, particularly in winter, but for the most part it seems like populations stay in the same place throughout all seasons. It’s also worth noting that there are some places where white-breasted Nuthatches are not terribly common such as Nevada, Texas, and western Oklahoma.

White-breasted Nuthatches are fond of deciduous forests, particularly those with large trees and old growth. They can also be found along forest edges and in places with large spread-out trees such as parks and backyards. For this reason, these birds are extremely common at bird feeders where they typically fly in quickly and grab seeds to take away. After grabbing a larger seed, they will use their bill to open them by jamming them into tight spaces and hammering away. 

What they do with these seeds once they’ve taken and opened them can vary depending on the day. Sometimes they will take and eat them right away, and other times they will take them and cache them in tree crevices to save for later. Watching White-breasted Nuthatches can be pretty amusing as they store food in sometimes obvious places, including putting seeds under loose bark and lichens.

To attract White-breasted Nuthatches to your feeders, try putting out peanuts, sunflower seeds and suet. They will also feed on other seeds and nuts, peanut butter, and corn. While White-breasted Nuthatches will eat a healthy number of seeds, a large portion of their diet in the summer actually consists of insects which they forage for in very acrobatic ways. Watching this species actively search for food is extremely entertaining. They are adept at clinging to trees, often going upside down and nimbly moving around branches and checking under bark for something to eat. Insects on the menu include various larvae such as caterpillars and those of wood boring insects along with adult insects like leafhoppers, stink bugs, and beetles among others. 

While going about their daily lives, you will often see these silly birds in the typical “nuthatch pose” with their body facing toward the ground and their head held up looking out over the landscape. They also frequently make a variety of different noises including a nasaly laughing noise that will often be heard coming from large trees before ever even getting eyes on these adorable birds.

White-breasted Nuthatches are cavity nesters and will use a wide variety of different types of trees for nesting sites. They will occasionally use nest boxes but not nearly as much as other species do. Inside the cavity, the female lines the nest site and builds a cup shaped nest to incubate and raise the young. These birds are known to reuse the same nest site in following years. After the nesting season, male and female pairs normally stay together throughout the year and are monogamous. They will sometimes stay with the same mate for a longer period of time, sometimes up until they pass away, so if you see one nuthatch, keep an eye out for its mate, which is likely not far behind. Also look for these birds in mixed flocks of other species such as chickadees and titmice. The oldest known, White-breasted Nuthatch was around 10 years old, and they are currently considered a species of low conservation concern, with an estimated population of about 10 million birds.

Overall, White-breasted Nuthatches are a common and expected bird species around feeding stations in many parts of North America. Their goofy antics and energetic personalities make them extremely fun to watch and a general pleasure to have around a backyard. Do you have White-breasted Nuthatches where you live? Do they do any goofy things we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments below, and as always, thanks for reading, we’ll see you next time, on Badgerland Birding.