SCOTT SHALAWAY The upside down bird, or what a nuthatch does

If you've ever doubted that birds have personality, find a white-breasted nuthatch. Easier said than done, you say. Then step outside and listen. Even with my eyes closed, the distinct nasal, "Ank, ank, ank" call alerts me to the nuthatch's presence. Then just scan the treetops. It doesn't take long to spot the blue-gray acrobat.
I see it first as it works its way head-first down the trunk of a large, white oak tree. Quickly flitting to a nearby branch, it hangs upside-down and nabs a cold, groggy spider. In jerky, almost mechanical movements, it continues up and down the tree. I flatter myself by thinking the performance is just for me.
Fall and winter
Nuthatches are most visible during fall and winter. On leafless trees, they are easily spotted as they work their way down and around the tree trunks. They're small, handsome birds. Only 5 inches long, they have a white breast and face with a blue-gray back and a black cap and neck. Females resemble males, but are duller. Their acrobatic, upside down antics, however, are the best clue to their identity.
Nuthatches regularly visit backyard feeders, where they enjoy sunflowers seeds and nuts. If you're feeling particularly generous, offer live mealworms. Though they often travel in feeding flocks with chickadees and titmice, don't expect to see a flock of nuthatches. A single pair works my feeders each morning. And even when I can't see the birds, I hear them "anking" in the distance.
Adults maintain a loose pair bond even during the winter months. Often they travel alone, but within earshot of each other. Their winter feeding territory measures 25 to 50 acres. This explains why you'll usually see just a pair at feeders. At night, each nuthatch roosts alone in its own tree cavity. Come spring, the female finds a new cavity in which to build a nest and lay her eggs.
Voracious predators
Voracious insect predators during warmer weather, nuthatches turn to nuts and seeds in the fall and winter. After working their way down a tree trunk, they frequently search the ground for fallen acorns, beechnuts, and hickory nuts. Perhaps that's why they look so natural combing the ground under feeders for fallen sunflower seeds.
The nuthatch gets its name from the ingenious technique it uses to crack acorns and other nuts. Lacking a seed-cracking bill, it wedges a nut into a crevice in a piece of bark and hammers with its bill until the shell breaks or "hatches." No mean feat, especially with a hickory nut. They use the same technique to open sunflower seeds at feeders.
Like blue jays and red-bellied woodpeckers, nuthatches cache nuts and seeds for times when food might be in short supply. It's difficult to determine what portion of their food they eat and how much is stashed in small tree cavities or under loose slabs of bark.
Also eat suet
Nuthatches also eat suet. Whether taken from a carcass in the woods or from a feeder in the yard, animal fat provides valuable energy on cold winter nights. Nuthatches often demonstrate their acrobatic skills by hanging upside-down from the suet basket as they feed.
White-breasted nuthatches live all year in oak-hickory forests, wooded parks and backyards. Watch for them in any wooded neighborhood.
And don't be surprised to see their equally acrobatic four-inch cousin, the red-breasted nuthatch, a winter visitor from farther north. Red-breasts nest in northern coniferous forests and sometimes venture south in the fall to open deciduous woods, where they, too, eat sunflower seeds, nuts and suet. They can be distinguished from white-breasted nuthatches by their smaller size, rusty bellies and a striking black eyeline topped by a white eyebrow stripe.
If you spot a blue-gray acrobat at your feeders this winter, chances are you're watching a nuthatch. You'll quickly discover it's one of the back yard's friendliest and most fascinating visitors.
sshalaway@aol.com