About the Red-breasted Nuthatch
The red-breasted nuthatch is a small songbird. The adult has blue-grey upperparts with cinnamon underparts, a white throat and face with a black stripe through the eyes, a straight grey bill and a black crown. Its call, which has been likened to a tin trumpet, is high-pitched and nasal. It breeds in coniferous forests across Canada, Alaska and the northeastern and western United States. Though often a permanent resident, it regularly irrupts further south if its food supply fails. There are records of vagrants occurring as far south as the Gulf Coast and northern Mexico. It forages on the trunks and large branches of trees, often descending head first, sometimes catching insects in flight.…
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The red-breasted nuthatch is a small passerine, measuring 4.5 in (11 cm) in length, with a wingspan of 8.5 in (22 cm) and a weight of 9.9 g (0.35 oz). Its back and uppertail are bluish, and its underparts are rust-coloured. It has a black cap and eye line and a white supercilium (eyebrow). Sexes are similarly plumaged, though adult males are brigher orange below, and conversely females and youngsters have duller heads and paler underparts. Voice: The red-breasted nuthatch's call is high-pitched, nasal and weak. Transcribed as yenk or ink, they have been likened to a toy tin horn or a child's noisemaker. Its song is a slowly repeated series of clear, nasal, rising notes, transcribed as eeen eeen eeen.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
What the Red-breasted Nuthatch sounds like
Where it lives
Recorded as a rare visitor in United Kingdom, Germany.
When to see it
Peak activity in May · a resident species across most of its range
Easily confused with
Eurasian NuthatchSitta europaeaThe adult male of the nominate subspecies, S. e. europaea is 14 cm (5.5 in) long with a 22.5–27 cm (8.9–10.6 in) wingspan.
Brown-headed NuthatchSitta pusillaThe brown-headed nuthatch is a small songbird endemic to pine forests throughout the Southeastern United States.
Pygmy NuthatchSitta pygmaeaThe pygmy nuthatch is 9–11 cm (3.5–4.3 in) long and with a wingspan of 19.7 cm (7.8 in), and weighs 9.3–11.4 g (0.33–0.40 oz).
Side by side: Red-breasted Nuthatch vs White-breasted Nuthatch · Eurasian Nuthatch vs Red-breasted Nuthatch · Pygmy Nuthatch vs Red-breasted Nuthatch
Learn the Red-breasted Nuthatch for real
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