By Tony Gazso, Interpretive Naturalist
 
Northeast Ohio is home to many small woodland birds and the nuthatch is one of the most unique. This small bird is known for its habit of walking not up, but down the sides of trees. This upside-down orientation offers nuthatches a different viewpoint of the bark of a tree, allowing them to reach food that would probably be missed by other birds like woodpeckers. Additionally, when nuthatches hide seed in bark crevices, doing so upside down helps keep that stored food from easily being found by other birds. Nuthatches have also developed some cool adaptations for their upside-down lifestyle such as larger, stronger feet than other birds of similar size. There are many nuthatch species throughout much of the globe with four found in the United States. Two are found here in Ohio; the white-breasted and the red-breasted. The other two; the pygmy and brown-headed are found in the Rockies and the southeast U.S. respectively. Let's take a closer look at Northeast Ohio's two nuthatch species.

White-breasted nuthatch: One of the more common visitors to backyard feeders, the white-breasted nuthatch is  the largest nuthatch in the U.S. and is about the size of a sparrow. In addition to their characteristic white breasts, they sport black caps and blue-gray bodies. In summer, they eat mostly insects while in winter when insects are scarce, they switch to a diet high in seeds and suet. Like other small non-migratory birds, the white-breasted nuthatch will often forage in mixed-species flocks with chickadees and titmice during the winter. This helps make finding food easier and also provides protection with all the birds looking out for each other. Look for white-breasted nuthatches in forests, open woodlands, and backyard feeders.

White-breasted nuthatch

Red-breasted nuthatch: Smaller and less common than their white-breasted cousins, red-breasted nuthatches are the only migratory nuthatches in the United States. Although they can be found in our region year round, they tend to be slightly more common from fall to spring especially during irruptive years. Red-breasted nuthatches have orangish bellies, blue-gray backs, white throats and black caps. They also have defined black eye stripes that are very useful when identifying them. Their habits and diet are the same as that of the white-breasted nuthatch, but red-breasteds tend to prefer conifer trees. Additionally, while both nuthatches nest in cavities, the red-breasted is more likely to excavate its own hole while the white-breasted typically looks for an unused cavity to move into. Red-breasted nuthatches also place globs of sap around the entrance to their cavities, helping to deter predators.

Red-breasted nuthatch

So be on the look out next time you venture into the forest, or even just into your backyard. You might just see a little nuthatch walking down the side of a tree.