Nuthatch

This small songbird is found in wooded regions, where it feeds by climbing through the branches and around the trunks of Trees in search of insects under the bark. Nuthatches resemble Woodpeckers in their habitat but are short-tailed perching birds (order Passeriformes) which walk up and down the trunks and branches of trees. They pry insects from under bark with their long, pointed bills. Their song consists of a series of nasal notes, which has been compared to that of a toy trumpet. There are approximately twenty-five species of the Family Sittidae, found in North America, Europe and Asia. Two species of nuthatches are resident in the province: the red-breasted nuthatch and the white-breasted nuthatch. The smaller (11 cm) red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) breeds in the boreal Forests and winters in the Aspen Parkland and townsites. The slightly larger (13–15 cm) white-breasted nuthatch (S. carolinensis) is a bird of the deciduous woods which has been expanding its range in the province from the east since it was first reported in 1914.

Diane Secoy

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Further Reading

Alsop, Fred J., III. 2002. Birds of Canada. New York: Dorling Kindersley; Godfrey, W. Earl.1986. Birds of Canada. Ottawa: National Museum of Natural Sciences.