The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) is a small songbird found across much of North America. It is a cavity nester, relying on existing holes or rotting wood to build its nest. The White-breasted Nuthatch prefers deciduous forests with large, mature trees. Its range extends across southern Canada and throughout the eastern and central United States. Here is an overview of where the White-breasted Nuthatch can be found.
Range in Canada
The White-breasted Nuthatch inhabits southern Canada from British Columbia to Nova Scotia. Its range extends as far north as central British Columbia, central Alberta, southern Manitoba, and southern Ontario. It is found in both coniferous and deciduous forests across its Canadian range.
British Columbia
In British Columbia, the White-breasted Nuthatch’s range includes Vancouver Island and the southwest mainland coast. It is found through the interior southern British Columbia in the Okanagan Valley and east to the Rocky Mountains.
Alberta
The White-breasted Nuthatch can be found in central and southern Alberta. Its range extends north to around Grande Prairie and east to Saskatoon.
Saskatchewan and Manitoba
The nuthatch inhabits southern Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. In Manitoba, its range reaches north close to The Pas.
Ontario
In Ontario, the White-breasted Nuthatch’s range covers most of the province except for the northern Boreal forest region. It is found as far north as the stretch between Lake Superior and Hudson Bay.
Quebec and the Maritimes
The nuthatch’s range includes southern Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland.
Range in the United States
The White-breasted Nuthatch is found across the eastern and central United States. Its range stretches west to the states bordering the Rocky Mountains. It is abundant in mature deciduous forests, parks, wooded suburban areas, and orchards throughout its U.S. range.
Northeast
In the Northeast, the White-breasted Nuthatch inhabits all the New England states, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, and the northern parts of West Virginia and Virginia.
Southeast
The nuthatch’s range extends south along the East Coast through the Carolinas, northern Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and eastern Texas. It also inhabits inland areas such as eastern Tennessee and Kentucky.
Midwest
Across the Midwest, the White-breasted Nuthatch can be found in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, eastern Nebraska, eastern Kansas, and eastern Oklahoma.
Western States
Along the West Coast, the nuthatch’s range includes western Oregon and Washington. Inland, it inhabits Idaho, western Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, and the western edges of South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.
Habitat Preferences
The White-breasted Nuthatch prefers mature deciduous forests with large trees. It also inhabits wooded parks, orchards, wooded suburban neighborhoods, and coniferous forests. The availability of nesting cavities is a key factor shaping its habitat distribution.
Deciduous Forests
Mature deciduous forests with old or rotting trees provide ideal habitat for the White-breasted Nuthatch. These forests supply plenty of holes and crevices for nesting and roosting. The nuthatch favors oak, beech, maple, hickory, sycamore, cottonwood, elm, and willow trees within deciduous forests.
Pine Forests
The White-breasted Nuthatch also inhabits coniferous forests dominated by pine trees. It is frequently found in stands of ponderosa pine, red pine, white pine, jack pine, and eastern white pine across North America.
Open Woodlands
More open, fragmented woodlands are also occupied by the nuthatch. These include orchards, wooded suburban areas, parks, golf courses, shelterbelts, and savannahs with scattered mature trees.
Elevation Range
The White-breasted Nuthatch inhabits low to mid-elevations across most of its range. In the western mountains, such as the Rockies, it is generally found at elevations up to 9,000 feet. There are records of the species up to 10,500 feet in Colorado. At higher elevations, it is replaced by the pygmy nuthatch.
Coastal Areas
Along the coasts, the White-breasted Nuthatch primarily inhabits low elevations up to around 2,000 feet above sea level.
Interior Ranges
Farther inland, the nuthatch regularly inhabits mid-elevation areas from 2,000 to 6,000 feet in elevation. This includes places like the Appalachian Mountains in the east and the foothills of the Rockies.
Higher Elevations
In mountain ranges like the Rockies, the White-breasted Nuthatch’s upper elevation limit is around 9,000 feet. The highest elevations records are from 10,000 to 10,500 feet in Colorado’s mountains.
Population and Conservation Status
The White-breasted Nuthatch has an extremely large range and a global population estimated at 10 million individuals. Its population appears to be stable, so the species is classified as Least Concern by the IUCN Red List.
Population Size
The global population of the White-breasted Nuthatch is estimated at around 10 million breeding individuals. Around 40% of the population breeds in Canada, while approximately 60% breeds in the United States.
Population Trend
Monitoring data from the North American Breeding Bird Survey and the Christmas Bird Count indicate the nuthatch’s population has been relatively stable since the late 1960s. Its numbers fluctuate locally with the availability of mature forests.
Region | Population Estimate |
---|---|
Global | 10 million |
Canada | 4 million |
United States | 6 million |
Conservation Status
Because of its large, widespread population, the White-breasted Nuthatch is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Partners in Flight estimates a global breeding population of 28 million with a 67% increase overall from 1970 to 2014.
Appearance and Behavior
The White-breasted Nuthatch is a plump, short-tailed songbird about 5-6 inches in length. It has a black cap and nape, white face, and bluish-gray upperparts. As its name suggests, it has a white breast and belly. This nuthatch creeps along tree trunks and branches probing for insects. It communicates with a series of nasal yank-yank calls.
Size and Shape
With a body length of 5.5-6.5 inches and weight of 0.6-1.0 ounces, the White-breasted Nuthatch is a medium-sized, stocky songbird. It has a plump body, short tail, and a long, chisel-like bill. Its wings are short, rounded, and broad to provide good maneuverability among tree branches.
Plumage
Adult White-breasted Nuthatches have slate-blue upperparts and wings, with black crowns and napes. The face has white stripes above and below the eye. The chin and throat are white, continuing into a pale buffy belly. The most distinctive mark is the black eyestripe that contrasts sharply with surrounding white.
Male vs Female
Males and females look identical, with no sexual dimorphism in plumage. Even experienced birders cannot reliably distinguish males from females in the field.Juvenile Appearance
Juvenile nuthatches have much duller plumage than adults. Their upperparts are grayer, their caps are gray mixed with black, and their underparts are plain buffy or whitish. After their first fall/winter, they molt and acquire adult plumage.
Behavior and Habits
White-breasted Nuthatches are active, agile little birds. They creep up, down, and sideways on trunks and branches probing for insects. They frequently jam large nuts and acorns into tree bark to hammer them open. Their nasal yank-yank calls carry far through the forest. They are outgoing, readily coming to bird feeders for sunflower seeds and suet.
Diet and Feeding Habits
The White-breasted Nuthatch has a varied diet consisting primarily of insects and nuts/seeds. It forages actively on tree trunks, branches, and sometimes the ground, probing and gleaning insects from bark crevices. It also jams large seeds into bark and hammers them open with its long bill. This nuthatch frequents feeders for sunflower seeds and suet.
Insects
Insects and other invertebrates make up around 70% of the White-breasted Nuthatch’s diet. It feeds extensively on beetles, caterpillars, ants, wasps, millipedes, spiders, and many other crawling and flying insects it finds hiding in tree bark.
Nuts and Seeds
Nuts and seeds comprise the other 30% of the nuthatch’s diet. Oily nuts like peanuts, hickory nuts, pecans, almonds, beechnuts, pine nuts and acorns are favorites. It wedges large nuts into tree bark and then chips away to crack them open with its long bill.
Feeding Behavior
To find prey, the White-breasted Nuthatch hitches along branches probing into crevices in bark, rotting wood, and around twigs and foliage. It also excavates underneath loose bark for hidden insects. This species frequently visits backyards feeders for sunflower seeds, peanuts, and suet.
Caching Food
White-breasted Nuthatches are known to cache, or hide away, excess seeds and nuts. They wedge large nuts into tree bark, then return later to retrieve them. They also tuck seeds and insects into hiding spots to eat later.
Migration and Winter Range
Most northern populations of the White-breasted Nuthatch are short-distance migrants, but the species can be found year-round throughout much of its breeding range. Some northern birds migrate south in winter, while others from farther north migrate down into the northern states and southern Canada during winter.
Northern Populations
White-breasted Nuthatches breeding in Canada may migrate south in winter, with northern birds traveling the farthest distances. They winter throughout the United States south to the Gulf Coast.
Irruptions
In some years, more extensive southward irruptions may occur when seed crops fail farther north. Big flights occur every 2-3 years along the northern border from Minnesota to New England.
Year-Round Range
Through much of the United States from the Pacific Coast to the Midwest, the White-breasted Nuthatch can be found year-round and does not migrate. Birds in the Appalachians, mid-Atlantic, South, and southern Florida are also non-migratory.
Winter Range
The core winter range spans throughout the lower 48 states, south into Mexico. The species winters commonly in woodlands and residential areas with mature trees that provide seeds and roosting cavities.
Breeding and Nesting
The White-breasted Nuthatch breeds across southern Canada and most of the continental United States. It nests in natural cavities or old woodpecker holes in dead trees or rotting stubs. The female builds the nest and incubates the eggs while the male brings food. The young leave the nest about 26-32 days after hatching.
Nest Sites
White-breasted Nuthatches nest in cavities in dead trees, dead limbs, or stumps. They do not excavate their own nest holes. The male selects nest sites in small natural cavities, old woodpecker holes, and holes created by decay in soft snags or stubs. He then plasters resin around the entrance.
Nest Description
The female builds the nest using grass, bark strips, feathers, fur, and other soft materials. Nuthatch nests are cup-shaped and typically 3-6 inches across and 1.5-3 inches tall. They are lined with soft materials like fine grass, feathers, and fur.
Eggs
The female White-breasted Nuthatch lays a single clutch per year. Clutches contain 4-9 eggs, which are white with red-brown spotting. The eggs measure about .80 inches long by .55 inches wide.
Incubation and Nestling Period
Only the female incubates the eggs, for about 12-14 days. Both parents feed the nestlings a diet of insects and seeds. The chicks fledge around 26-32 days after hatching. They are dependent on the parents for 2-3 more weeks.
Nesting Season
Timing of breeding varies across the nuthatch’s range. In northern regions nesting starts in late April, while southern birds may start as early as February. They raise one brood per season, with most nesting finished by July.
Vocalizations
The nasal, repetitive yank-yank call of the White-breasted Nuthatch is its most distinctive vocalization. Both sexes give this loud call year-round to communicate with mates and advertise territory. Other sounds include a low-pitched gnah for courtship feeding, begging calls by young, and a series of chitters when agitated.
Yank Call
The male White-breasted Nuthatch’s yank-yank territorial call carries far through woodlands. It is a repetitive, nasal rising yank followed by a lower-pitched yank. This call serves to communicate with the mate and proclaim territory ownership.
Courtship Feeding Call
Mates perform courtship feeding of each other on branches accompanied by a softer gnah or ennk call. The male makes this call when presenting food to the female during their bonding rituals.
Alarm Calls
When agitated by predators like hawks or disturbed at the nest, nuthatches emit a rapid series of tchit tchit tchit alarm calls. Both adults and fledglings give these chatter calls to signal danger.
Begging Calls
Young White-breasted Nuthatches beg for food from parents with a series of descending peeping calls that speed up into a frenzy during feedings. These help signal their hunger level.
Song
The White-breasted Nuthatch also has a high-pitched, squeaky song used primarily during courtship. It includes a jumble of whistles, warbles, and pairs of notes. The song is given around nest sites to strengthen the pair bond.
Interactions with Humans
The bold, active nature of the White-breasted Nuthatch makes it popular among birdwatchers. It is a common and easy species to observe as it frequently visits backyards and feeders. Landscaping with mature trees can help provide habitat for nuthatches in suburban areas.
Backyard Visitors
White-breasted Nuthatches are regular visitors to backyard bird feeders throughout their range. They readily come to feeders stocked with sunflower seeds, peanuts, and suet. Platform feeders are ideal for their clinging feeding behavior.
Habitat Conservation
Maintaining stands of mature, decaying trees helps provide essential nesting sites for White-breasted Nuthatches. Preserving old-growth forests and dead snags from clearcutting also ensures habitat availability across the landscape.
Cultural Depictions
The nuthatch sometimes appears in North American folklore and literature. Henry David Thoreau chronicled his observations of the species around Walden Pond in his book Walden. More recently, the White-breasted Nuthatch has been featured as a minor character in Disney’s 1942 animated film Bambi.
Citizen Science
Christmas Bird Counts and other citizen science initiatives help track White-breasted Nuthatch populations during the non-breeding season. Backyard birders can participate by reporting their sightings to online databases like eBird.
Fun Facts
Tool Use
White-breasted Nuthatches exhibit tool use by wedging nuts into tree bark or crevices and then hammering them open with their bills. They are one of the few North American birds to employ tools.
Headfirst
Nuthatches can climb headfirst down trees, unlike woodpeckers and most other birds. Extra-flexible neck vertebrae allow them to descend tree trunks while looking for food.
Mimicry
The White-breasted Nuthatch sometimes mimics the calls of other species. Occasionally it imitates the “pit-pit” calls of the black phoebe or grackle squeaks.
Oldest Record
A banded White-breasted Nuthatch recaptured and released in Massachusetts was at least 9 years and 4 months old, the oldest recorded for the species.
Conclusion
With its engaging habits and ability to thrive near humans, the White-breasted Nuthatch remains one of the most familiar and beloved backyard birds throughout its widespread North American range. Protecting mature forests helps ensure this active little songbird continues brightening forests and neighborhoods for generations to come.