Nuthatches: The Upside-Down Birds That Cache Seeds and Steal Dog Fur

If you see a small bird walking headfirst down a tree trunk, it's a nuthatch. These compact, sharp-billed songbirds are winter fixtures across North America, and their quirky habits — from seed caching to plucking fur from sleeping dogs — make them endlessly entertaining.

Adam Bender

David Hollie

North America's Four Nuthatches

• White-breasted (Sitta carolinensis) — Broad U.S. range, into Canada & Mexico
• Red-breasted (S. canadensis) — Winter: most of U.S./Canada; Breeding: boreal & western mountains
• Pygmy (S. pygmaea) — Year-round in western pine forests, Canada to Mexico
• Brown-headed (S. pusilla) — Deep South only; one of few U.S.-endemic birds

Cory McIvor

Name & Niche

"Nuthatch" comes from their habit of wedging nuts into bark crevices and "hatching" them open with bill hammer-blows. Each species follows its preferred nut trees: white-breasted in deciduous woods (oak, hickory, maple); red-breasted in conifers (cedar, pine, spruce); pygmy and brown-headed in open, mature pine stands.

ID Guide

Behavior giveaway: Only nuthatches walk down trunks. Short neck, short tail, straight sharp bill.

• White-breasted: Largest. Gray-blue back, white face/belly, black/gray cap.
• Red-breasted: Rusty belly, white eyebrow + black eye-line = striped head.
• Pygmy: Slate back, pale belly, brown cap covering eye.
• Brown-headed: Similar to pygmy but smaller; ranges don't overlap.

Photo by Matt MacGillivray (upper left), Mikes Birds (upper/lower right), Matt Tillett (lower left)

Sex differences: Subtle. Female white-breasted has paler crown; female red-breasted has duller crown and paler belly. Pygmy sexes look identical.

How to Attract Them

Plant Native Trees

Spring/summer: nuthatches eat arthropods — spiders, insects — gleaned from bark. Nestlings need this high-protein diet. Native hickory, oak, maple (white-breasted); cedar, spruce (red-breasted); pines (pygmy/brown-headed).

Christine Haines — white-breasted nuthatch with insect cocoon

Fall/winter: they switch to seeds/nuts, many cached in bark crevices. Feeders with peanuts, sunflower, suet keep them close.

Dan Behm

Baljinder Gill — red-breasted nuthatch on conifer

Rick Cameron

Nesting: Cavity Creativity

All are cavity nesters, often enlarging existing holes. White-breasted: male picks site, female builds. Red-breasted: female picks and builds. Unmated males may build to attract mates. Pygmy and brown-headed: communal — multiple generations help excavate. Pygmy nuthatches pack up to 100 birds in one cavity and use controlled hypothermia to survive freezing nights — a unique triple strategy (cavity + huddling + torpor).

Pygmy nuthatches at communal nest. Photo by Gary Leavens

Nests: cup of sticks, pine needles, bark strips, lined with grass, feathers, moss, animal fur. Yes — they'll pluck fur from sleeping dogs.

Christine Haines — pygmy nuthatch insulating nest with fur

Want to build a box? NestWatch (Cornell) has species-specific plans. Or leave dead trees standing for natural snags.

Bob Gunderson

Listen For Them

White/red-breasted: nasal "yank-yank." Pygmy/brown-headed: "rubber ducky" squeaks. Winter woods aren't just chickadees.