Watershed Trivia Question: What is the name of this bird?
Watershed Trivia Answer: It is a red-breasted nuthatch. The red-breasted nuthatch is a small songbird that can be found in the Netroparks, including at Glen Lake.
Location
Red-breasted Nuthatches are mainly birds of coniferous woods and mountains. Look for them among spruce, fir, pine, hemlock, larch, and western red cedar as well as around aspens and poplars.
Appearance
Red-breasted nuthatches have a distinctive black-and-white head pattern, with a black cap, white stripe over the eye, and a black stripe through the eye. They have blue-gray upperparts and a reddish-orange breast. Males are brighter than females.
Behavior
Red-breasted nuthatches are quick-moving birds that creep up, down, and sideways over tree trunks and branches. They forage for insects like beetles, caterpillars, and ants under the bark of trees. They can also be seen in mixed flocks with other songbirds.
Sounds
Red-breasted nuthatches have a nasal, yammering call that’s higher pitched and more nasal than the White-breasted Nuthatch.
Migration
Some red-breasted nuthatches migrate south in large numbers in fall and winter, especially in years when there’s poor cone production on their breeding grounds.
Nesting
Red-breasted nuthatches excavate a nest cavity in a tree and line it with vegetation, fur, or feathers. They smear sticky sap around the entrances to their nests to deter predators.
Conservation Status
The red-breasted nuthatch is rated as a species of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.