Classification1Welcome to a page devoted entirely to my favorite bird, the White-breasted Nuthatch...
Created by Megan Cheatham
Senior, Maryville College
Maryville, TN
Classification Physical Characteristics
Feeding Habits Reproduction and Nesting
Range, Habitat and Distributions
Other Information References Links
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sittidae
Genus: Sitta
Species: carolinensis
Sitta carolinensis, White-breasted Nuthatch
Photo from www.usgs.gov
With its long, slightly upturned beak, which can easily be as long as its head, the White-breasted Nuthatch is easily discerned from other American Nuthatches. The White-breasted Nuthatch has a black crown on its head and white cheeks, throat, and breast. Near the tail, the plumage may be rosy or russet color, similar to that of the Red-breasted Nuthatch. Feathers on the back are a bluish-gray with wing and tail plumage a mixture of blue, gray, and white. As with many bird species, the females tend to exhibit more gray overall than their male counterparts, substituting
a gray crown for a black crown.1 At six inches long, the White-breasted
Nuthatch is the largest Nuthatch in the United States.2
Photo from http://datatools.org/Audubon/Index.htm
Nuthatches receive their name from their habit of placing large seeds and nuts in the crevices of trees and using their large beaks to pry them open. Such a substantial bill also proves useful in probing for insects in trees, the Nuthatch’s main source of nutrition during much of the year. During the winter, however, the White-breasted Nuthatch is a frequent visitor at bird feeders, commonly seen alongside Tufted Titmice and Chickadees.3 The insects in their diet include weevils, tent caterpillars, ants, scale insects, psyllids, wood borers, and leaf beetles.1
White-breasted
Nuthatches breed in monogamous pairs. The
female builds a nest in a cavity and lays as few as 5 or as many as 10 eggs.1
These eggs are incubated from 12 to 14 days, during which time the female
is fed by her mate. The young are
cared for by both parents for a period up to 14 days.4
Very little is known about Nuthatch life history and biology as they
prefer to breed in natural holes in large, dead trees, making it difficult to
examine them.1
Photograph from http://birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/getting_started/clutchsize.html
Geographic
Range, Habitat, and Population Distributions
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a resident species, residing throughout the United States, into Southern Canada and down to Southern Mexico.1
In the state of Tennessee, the Nuthatch is a permanent resident, preferring mature, deciduous forests, though some information suggests that they can also be found in mixed deciduous and, rarely, coniferous forests. Nicholson (1997) speculates in his book that the White-breasted Nuthatch population probably reached its lowest point in Tennessee at the beginning of the twentieth century, when forest area was at its lowest. They appear to avoid cedar forests as they are distinctly absent from inventories taken of these areas.2,4
March 4, 2003--Look Rock, Blount Co., Tennessee
March 11, 2003--Maryville College Woods, Maryville College, Maryville, TN Blount Co.
March 16, 2003--Maryville College Campus, outside of Sutton Science Center, Maryville College, Maryville, TN Blount Co.
April 7, 2003--Maryville College Campus, in front the Center for Campus Ministry, Maryville College, Maryville, TN Blount Co.
April 17, 2003--Maryville College Woods, Maryville College, Maryville, TN Blount Co.
Given below are two distribution maps for the White-breasted Nuthatch
Winter distribution map for White-breasted Nuthatch. Notice the high concentrations in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa, stretching into Southern Canada.
Summer distribution map for White-breasted Nuthatch. Numbers throughout the U.S. and Canada appear to drop dramatically. Where are the birds going?
Distribution maps www.usgs.gov
Other Information about the White-breasted Nuthatch
Nuthatches are amazing climbers, and are often seen clinging to the trunk of a tree head-down.4
The White-breasted Nuthatch exhibits “bill
sweeping.” This is a behavior
where the bird picks up an insect, piece of fur, or a piece of vegetation and
sweep the ba
rk around its nest 
cavity. While
the exact purpose for this is unknown, some people suggest that it is used to
mask the scent around the nest and prevent detection by predators.2
Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central Northern America describes the White-breasted Nuthatch’s song as “a rapid series of low, nasal, whistled notes on one pitch: whi, whi, whi, whi, whi or who, who, who, etc. Note, a nasal yank, yank, yank; also a nasal tootoo.”5 Click to hear a recording of a White-breasted Nuthatch.
Recording from http://www.math.sunysb.edu/~tony/birds/titmice.html
Photo from http://www.greenbackedheron.com/photo.cfm?photoid=73
This is some fabulous video footage taken in Hamilton Co., OH, Dec. 21, 2001
Source: William Hull
Video from http://www.mangoverde.com/birdsound/index.html
1 http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/accounts/sitta/s._carolinensis$narrative.html
2 http://www.birdsource.org/gbbc/birdid/wbnh/
3http://www.yankeegardener.com/birds/white-br.htm
4 Nicholson, C. P. (1997). Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Tennessee. Knoxville: The
University of Tennessee Press.
5Peterson, R. T. & Peterson, V. M. (2002). Birds of Eastern and Central North America
(5th ed.). New York: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Familiar Birds: Life Histories of North American Birds, A.C. Bent
A webpage devoted to the works of Arthur Cleveland Bent and collaborators who published a twenty-one volume series on birds from 1919 to 1968. Read excerpts from his books.
A website published by the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology. Allows you to search for information about animals from all every imaginable class.
Provides species distributions for birds, records for the Christmas Bird Counts (through 1988), pictures, and basic species information.
Cornell University Birdhouse Network
A program through the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology, gathering scientific data on--what else?--birds. View their Nest Box Cam, find out about their clutch size study, and how you can help the Birdhouse Network.
Plans to be a "digital field guide to all the bird species of the world." They seem to be off to a good start.
This page was last updated on 05/02/03.
