This common little bird frequents my birdfeeder. It has colors similar to a chickadee but a longer beak and a habit of marching up and down the trunks of trees often head-down searching for insects.Here are some interesting facts about this bird:
When a nuthatch visits your feeder and grabs a sunflower seed, it will bring the seed to the trunk of a tree, jam the seed into a crevice to hold it in place, and then hammer at it with its bill to open it. Nice trick!
During wintertime, nuthatches don't migrate, but they gather together in flocks as many birds do. The interesting thing is that they flock together with chickadees and tufted titmice. The vigilance of the other birds give added protection from hawks, cats and other predators. If one of the other species is not present, say the titmice are not in the group, nuthatches are far more reluctant to visit birdfeeders. So much for "birds of a feather flock together!"
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