Sitting on a bench surrounded by 70-foot-tall Norway spruces, I watch a red-breasted nuthatch take a peanut from a feeder in my front yard. There’s a cool breeze on this sunny autumn day, and I know winter is coming. But the nuthatch gives me comfort.
Found year-round much farther north, this individual may have decided to spend the winter with us. He’s been sampling peanuts, suet and water and alighting on spruces, redbuds and the silver maple. It’s called an irruptive species because it leaves its north woods home in late summer to fly south if the foods it eats, seeds from coniferous trees, are scarce.
It typically is seen about every other year in winter where we live, depending on the cone crop production up north.
It seems tamer than other bird species, though, of course I know he’s wild and wary. He flies toward a bird bath next to the bench, sees me and flits away. So I sit as still as can be, whispering, “It’s OK. Come back and get a drink.” And he did.
This 4.5-inch bird — with blue-gray upperparts, rusty underparts, white cheek and throat, black cap, white eyebrow, black eyeline — landed on the bird bath. He then dipped his thin, pointed grayish bill into the water, took one sip, then another and another, before finally flying away, hopefully no longer thirsty.
This is a male because the female red-breasted nuthatch has a lighter-colored cap and more diffuse rust on her breast.
We see white-breasted nuthatches year-round in the Midwest, and they flit among backyard feeders eating suet, peanuts and sunflower seeds, as well as burying them in crevices when winter is nigh. This species is larger than the red-breasted nuthatch and lacks the black eyeline. It has white underparts and face, and a bluish-gray back. The male has a black cap; the female’s is light gray.
I love watching nuthatches of either species because of the way they move about the trees. This sprite-like bird forages head pointing first, descending or ascending on tree bark probing for insects and larvae.
The red-breasted also extracts seeds from various conifer species, and no doubt, the Norway spruces in the front yard beckon to it while flying south in autumn.
Last year, nary a red-breasted nuthatch was to be seen at the feeders or in the spruces, and it’s likely the species stayed farther north with enough food to eat. It felt like something was missing from the mini winter ecosystem in the yard.
This year as I watch the red-breasted nuthatch flit about, I hope another one or two may join it. We had a pair of red-breasted nuthatches that stayed with us the entire winter several years back.
This nuthatch makes a unique sound, which may tell you it’s there before you see it. It’s been described as the sound of a tin horn, a soft nasal-like “yank, yank yank.” To me, it’s the sound of winter coming, or of the north woods where I’ve seen many of these birds.
The white-breasted nuthatch has a similar sound, though it’s louder and less nasal, perhaps a bit more insistent. It’s fun to sit in the yard and listen for both species of nuthatches and watch for them to land on a feeder. It’s what I’ve been doing for the past several sunny autumn days.
Now is a good time to sit in your yard, provided there are some trees close by, and listen for the calls of both of these species. Red-breasted nuthatches are particularly partial to conifers.
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If you want to attract them, consider putting out a feeder with shelled peanut pieces. Blue jays will take larger, unshelled peanuts, but the nuthatches typically don’t. Suet and sunflower oilers also attract the nuthatches. We have a suet feeder, sunflower feeder and peanut feeder grouped close together. It’s an outdoor smorgasbord for the birds, including three species of woodpeckers.
Another way to seek red-breasted nuthatches is to visit a natural area with some tall conifers, or a mix of coniferous and deciduous trees, and listen for them calling.
Soon, the dark-eyed juncos, the snowbirds that live with us in winter, will arrive. Some have already been seen in the Chicago region. Though the juncos are fun to see, they are much more common. They don’t create quite the magic or joy that the red-breasted nuthatch does when it decides your home is perfect for a winter vacation.
Sheryl DeVore has worked as a full-time and freelance reporter, editor and photographer for the baiduhai and its subsidiaries. She’s the author of several books on nature and the environment. Send story ideas and thoughts to [email protected].