Nuthatches—Acrobats in Your Backyard!

Nuthatches are the only birds in our area who are equally adept at going either direction on a tree trunk, upward or downward. Ornithologists believe that nuthatches find insect food by going down a tree trunk that would be missed by birds going up the tree trunk, so the nutty behavior is really an evolutionary advantage.

by Molly Evans

The White-breasted Nuthatch is a favorite of mine.  I often see a pair in my yard, zig-zagging their way down the trunk of a tree—they head up, and then down, then up again.

Nuthatches are the only birds in our area who are equally adept at going either direction on a tree trunk, upward or downward.  Ornithologists believe that nuthatches find insect food by going down a tree trunk that would be missed by birds going up the tree trunk, so the nutty behavior is really an evolutionary advantage.

These birds are measure five inches in length, with dark, almost black heads, slate gray backs and white underparts.  Their tails are short and stubby – no good for propping on a tree like a woodpecker, but good for staying out of its way when a nuthatch goes down a tree trunk headfirst.  Short legs, long toes, and very long claws all help a nuthatch cling upside down on a trunk or limb.

In our yard, the nuthatches divide their time between surveying the insect populations of tree bark, and examining the black oil sunflower seeds at our feeder.  Each bird seems to take great care in finding the perfect seed, the flies to a tree limb, places the seed in a crevice, and hacks the shell away.  That’s where the birds get their name – nuthatch is a corruption of the old English “nut hack,” which they certainly are!

The nuthatch pair discusses all this work with a gentle “yank-yank” back and forth between them, sometimes suggesting to each other that they visit the nearby suet feeder.

I also like the fact that White-breasted Nuthatches stay mated throughout the year, spending the cold months together snuggled up side by side.  Not only that, the pair maintains a territory of up to 25 acres – they may be small, but they’re feisty!