Bird Food Preferences

Black-oil sunflower, striped sunflower, suet, sunflower hearts, and whole peanuts

Bird Feeder Preferences

Tube, hopper, platform, peanut, and suet

Bird House Specifications

Red-breasted Nuthatches use nest boxes. Check out the Bird House Dimensions page to learn how to build a bird house specifically for Red-breasted Nuthatches.

Plants to Attract

Woody Plants: Conifers and sedges

Description

In Canada and the western United States, Red-breasted Nuthatches are found year round.  During the winter, they are also seen in the eastern United States.  Red-breasted Nuthatches are common in coniferous and mixed woods. Nuthatches can be seen walking head first down a tree, and they are often found in foraging flocks with chickadees and woodpeckers.

Red-breasted Nuthatches are four inches in length and weigh about 0.4 ounces.  They have gray-blue backs with rufous-colored underparts.  They have black caps, white eyebrows, and black eye lines.  Females have gray caps and pale orange underparts.

Both the male and female create a cavity in a dead tree, the dead portion of a living tree, or the broken top of a tree.  The cavity is between two and eight inches deep.  The female makes a bed with grass and bark and lines it with fur and feathers.  The male and female apply conifer resin to the cavity entrance.

Similar Species

Brown Creeper, Brown-headed Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, and White-breasted Nuthatch