The Red-breasted Nuthatch | Adorable, Fun and Vocal #Video

For those familiar with me and my journey the last ten years, you know that this charming little bird is one out of several other species that I’ve come to know very well, establishing close relationships of many years with several individuals. Such as Hatch, a male Red-breasted nuthatch I knew from Winter 2014 to the middle of June 2020. The longest I have known one of these birds.

Belonging to the Genus Sitta which include 17 species of true nuthatches of North
America and Eurasia, the Red-breasted nuthatch comprise the common nuthatch family or Sittidae. They are estimated by Partners in Flight at 20 million, and between 1966 and 2014, their numbers increased throughout their range, as reported by the North American Breeding Bird Survey.

Much of their range is in the Boreal as well as Northernmost forest regions which stretch from Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador, south through the Appalachians to eastern Tennesee and North Carolina. A great deal of the Western coniferous forests sees them as well, where they occur as far south as California and Arizona. In the areas I’ve listed, they are permanent residents, seen year-round, however in some years particularly when cone crops fail, many individuals move southward for the winter in search of food, a cycle that occurs every 2 to 3 years depending. During this time they can show up in large numbers visiting feeders, delighting those who don’t typically get to see them. Years like that which one in 2020, are known as irruption years.

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Song during the intro and @ 3:57- 5:18 - Mr. Sunny Face via YouTube Audio Library

Timestamps:
00:00 Start
00:12 Intro
00:45 Population numbers
01:10 Range, Location, when to see them
03:01 Appearance, similar species
03:47 How to tell males and females apart
03:58 Unique climbing abilities
05:16 Food they eat and foraging behavior
06:55 Where their name came from
07:15 Breeding, Nesting, Brood, Incubation, fledging
10:12 Calls and Sounds, (Yank calls, alarm calls, female sounds)
12:38 Pair bond behavior
13:10 Molt
13:28 Wing-spread display behavior
14:00 Oldest Red-breasted nuthatch
14:16 A little about Hatch, my first nuthatch friend
14:36 Ending