Illustration: Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch
Artwork by Patrick J. Lynch
Nuthatches are among North America’s most endearing and acrobatic woodland birds, foraging headfirst down tree trunks with unmatched confidence. The Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis), smaller in size, favors conifer forests and is an irregular winter visitor along the Atlantic Coast. The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), stockier by comparison, is a year-round resident of deciduous and mixed woods across much of the continent.
Both species wedge seeds and insects into bark crevices to consume or cache for later, earning their reputation as feathered pantry keepers. Their nasal calls announce their presence long before they come into view: the Red-breasted Nuthatch gives a high tin-trumpet note, and the White-breasted a slower, resonant series carrying well through winter woods.
From my book A Field Guide to Long Island Sound, Yale University Press.
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