Illustration © David Allen Sibley.
Learn more about these drawings.
Text © Kenn Kaufman, adapted from
Lives of North American Birds
Photo: Norm Dougan/Great Backyard Bird Count Participant
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Sitta canadensis
| Conservation status | Numbers probably stable. Has expanded breeding range southward in some eastern states by nesting in plantings of ornamental conifers. |
|---|---|
| Family | Nuthatches |
| Habitat | Conifer forests; in winter, also other trees. Nesting habitat almost always has many conifers, such as spruce, fir, hemlock, either in pure stands or mixed with deciduous trees. Mature forest preferred, perhaps because old decaying wood needed for nest sites. In migration and winter may appear in any wooded habitat, but conifers always chosen if available. |
Photo Gallery
Feeding Behavior
Forages by climbing up and down trunk and branches of trees. Sometimes catches flying insects in the air. May cache food items in bark crevices.
Eggs
5-6, sometimes 4-7. White, spotted with reddish-brown. Female incubates, male brings food to female on and off nest. Incubation period about 12 days. Young: Both parents feed nestlings; young leave nest about 2-3 weeks after hatching. Probably 1 brood per year.
Young
Both parents feed nestlings; young leave nest about 2-3 weeks after hatching. Probably 1 brood per year.
Diet
Includes both insects and seeds. Feeds mainly on insects and spiders in summer; in winter, eats many seeds, especially those of conifers. Young are fed mostly or entirely on insects and spiders.
Nesting
Unlike other nuthatches, has a soft musical song, used especially in courtship by male. In courtship display, male turns his back toward female, raises head, droops wings, and sways from side to side. Male also feeds female in courtship. Nest: Both sexes excavate nest cavity in rotten stub or snag, usually 5-40' above ground, rarely much higher. Rarely use old woodpecker holes or birdhouses. Sticky pitch is smeared around entrance to nest hole; this may prevent other creatures from entering. Adults avoid getting stuck in pitch by flying straight into hole. Apparently female does most of work of nest building. Nest in cavity made of soft grass, moss, bark fibers, feathers.
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- All Seasons - Common
- All Seasons - Uncommon
- Breeding - Common
- Breeding - Uncommon
- Winter - Common
- Winter - Uncommon
- Migration - Common
- Migration - Uncommon
Songs and Calls
A tinny yank-yank, higher pitched and more nasal than the call of the White-breasted Nuthatch.How climate change could affect this bird's range
In the broadest and most detailed study of its kind, Audubon scientists have used hundreds of thousands of citizen-science observations and sophisticated climate models to predict how birds in the U.S. and Canada will react to climate change.
Read more: climate.audubon.org
Each map is a visual guide to where a particular bird species may find the climate conditions it needs to survive in the future. We call this the bird’s “climatic range.”
The colors indicate the season in which the bird may find suitable conditions— blue for winter, yellow for summer (breeding), and green for where they overlap (indicating their presence year-round).
The darker the shaded area, the more likely it is the bird species will find suitable climate conditions to survive there.
The outline of the approximate current range for each season remains fixed in each frame, allowing you to compare how the range will expand, contract, or shift in the future.
The first frame of the animation shows where the bird can find a suitable climate today (based on data from 2000). The next three frames predict where this bird’s suitable climate may shift in the future—one frame each for 2020, 2050, and 2080.
You can play or pause the animation with the orange button in the lower left, or select an individual frame to study by clicking on its year.
Red-breasted Nuthatch In the News More News
Podcast
How Do Birds Spend Cold Winter Nights?
Huddling together and fluffing up are some of the ways that birds protect themselves from the chills of winter.
Podcast
Why Are All Those Chickadees, Nuthatches, and Kinglets Hanging Out?
As colder weather sets in, some small birds form mixed flocks to increase their chances of survival.
Birding
Red-breasted Nuthatches Are Invading the Northeast This Fall
Due to a likely food shortage in their Canadian range, the birds have started showing up throughout the U.S. in droves.
