Bring out the sunflower kernels for nuthatches

Last week, before the first frost and a half-hearted snowfall, I heard a familiar voice from high atop the tallest tree in the yard. I stopped and listened to confirm what I was hearing. It was a simple nasal sound, reminiscent of a white-breasted nuthatch, but higher pitched.

It was a red-breasted nuthatch, one of my favorite birds.

Several field guides aptly describe its voice as sounding like toy tin horn. Listen to several red-breasted nuthatch vocalizations at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/AllAboutBirds/audio/Red-breasted_Nuthatch1.html and decide for yourself.

Even when I don’t hear a red-breasted nuthatch for years, I recognize it immediately when I hear it. And often it is years between red-breast visits.

Though red-breasted nuthatches are typically found across the northern boreal forest and at higher elevations in the Rocky and Appalachian Mountains, recent reports on several Internet birding bulletin boards have raised my expectations. So I’m not the only one seeing red-breasted nuthatches this fall.

Though there are nesting records for red-breasted nuthatches from as far south as the mountains of Tennessee, it’s basically a bird of the north woods that occasionally wanders south in search of food. These unpredictable migrations, called irruptions, are triggered by a poor seed crop in the northern coniferous forests. Perhaps at least some portions of Canada’s boreal forest have failed to produce much of a cone crop this year. That may be why red-breasted nuthatches are showing up.

Several other northern birds are also known as irruptive migrants. Evening grosbeaks, purple finches, pine siskins, crossbills and redpolls descend from the boreal forests at unpredictable intervals. They, too, head south in search of food after a seed crop failure.

Reports of large flocks of pine siskins have also caught my eye this fall. Dr. David Bonter, Leader of Project FeederWatch at Cornell’s Laboratory of Ornithology, agrees. He told me a few days ago that, “I’ve also gotten reports of large flocks of siskins this fall.”

Like the more familiar white-breasted nuthatch, red-breasts are acrobatic birds that often climb head-first down tree trunks. This behavior alone makes nuthatches easy to recognize. Red-breasts are a bit smaller than white-breasts and distinguished by their rusty underparts, white eyebrows and black eye lines. Look for them in mixed flocks of chickadees, titmice and kinglets.

One reason I enjoy seeing red-breasted nuthatches is that they are among the easiest birds to hand feed. Fearless and friendly, they are easily tempted by sunflower kernels and shelled nuts. Before filling the feeders each morning, invest a few minutes by standing near an empty feeder with an outstretched handful of food. In a week or so, you may be rewarded with a hungry beggar landing on your fingertips for a handout. The bird will look you right in the eye before dashing off with a tasty morsel of food. It’s pure magic when a wild, free-flying bird takes food from your hand.

Though red-breasted nuthatches usually nest far to our north, some curious aspects of their nesting behavior deserve mention. Like all members of the nuthatch family, red-breasts nest in cavities. Usually they use an old woodpecker hole or occasionally a nest box. If rotten standing trees are available, they sometimes even excavate their own cavity.

Regardless where they nest, however, red-breasted nuthatches “paint” the area around the entrance hole with sticky resin from nearby live conifers. The purpose of this behavior is unclear, though it may discourage predators, particularly snakes, from climbing into the nesting chamber. Adult red-breasted nuthatches avoid soiling their feathers with pitch by flying directly into the hole. What puzzles me is how they manage to stop inside a space that can’t be more than four or five inches across.

In the Southeast, endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers employ a similar strategy. They nest only in mature, live pines infected with a fungal heart rot. After excavating the cavity, these woodpeckers drill a series of small holes around the entrance. Pitch oozes from these wells and probably repels predators, particularly climbing snakes.

If early observations and reports of red-breasted nuthatches are any indication, this fall and winter could be great for backyard birders. When I heard that first toot, I bought more sunflower kernels and filled every feeder.

XSend questions and comments to Dr. Scott Shalaway, R.D. 5, Cameron, W.Va. 26033 or by e-mail via my Web site, http://scottshalaway.googlepages.com