Nuts, Another The Head Rush (Part 2 of Many)

The bird posting continues.  Today’s bird topic is the nuthatch.  Based on the field guide, my guess is I have the White Breasted variety which coincides well with its popular regions.   Although a slightly fuzzy picture, here is one sitting in my old feeder.

Nuthatch

It is always easy to distinguish the nuthatch because for some reason it prefers to face downward – my guess is he enjoys the feeling of a head rush or he is just showing off because the other birds that have visited the tree rarely take this position.  It is a little startling the first time you witness it, but the nuthatch literally runs “down” the tree.   Often times he can been seen in the following pose…

Nuthatch

(again, apologies for the slight blur) Much like the chickadee, the one can always bet on at least one visit from a nuthatch on any given day.    It started out primarily using the feeder filled for the finches, but soon drifted to the larger feeder with the larger bird mix.  I really didn’t notice until reviewing the pictures, but it appears he actually like the peanut halves in the mix. (Update:  I just realized peaNUThatch – interesting)

Nuthatch

I rarely see the nuthatch mingling with other birds and doesn’t appear to be very aggressive when he does.  His feeding approach is generally slow and cautious and has a habit of landing on the feeder, grabbing a seed and then heading off somewhere to consume it.  On dreary days he tends to blend in well with the tree trucks but the fact he actually runs down the tree tends to reveal him rather quickly.

Nuthatch

Unfortunately, that is the best set of pictures I have of my feathered friend at the moment (been difficult to get him to stand still long enough to focus and snap a picture), but I tend to get at least one chance a day to snap better ones.  If I am successful, I will replace the above pictures with some of better quality.

More birds to come!!

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