Red-breasted Nuthatch?
claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
I occasionally see Red-breasted Nuthatches here in southeastern MA, but only in years when they irrupt south and then only in the winter or spring before they head north again.
Last Monday (October 3) I looked out the window and thought "That looks like a Red-breasted Nuthatch at the suet nugget feeder!" I managed to get one picture of the nuthatch(?) in the company of a chickadee but I haven't seen it since.
Is my identification correct? I get White-breasted Nuthatches regularly but the head and back of this guy doesn't match that bird.
The chickadee is on the back of the feeder and the nuthatch(?) is on the front with its back to the camera.
Thanks,
Claire
Note: I just checked Ron Pittaway’s Winter Finch Forecast 2016-2017
which is posted on eBird and it says:
"RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH: An early southward movement began in early summer and continues as this forecast is posted. This widespread movement is evidence of poor cone crops in the Northeast. It indicates that Purple Finches, White-winged Crossbills and Pine Siskins are on the move too."
Note2: I just checked eBird for individual sightings and they're all over Massachusetts! Five Red-breasted Nuthatches were counted in September just down the road from my house, so the ID is looking much more reasonable.
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claireplymouth z6b coastal MA
7 years agoRelated Discussions
Fall Birds - and need an ID
Comments (20)I think that grosbeak was injured. I found her this afternoon hanging around my [frozen] pond. I probably just about stepped on her when i was putting up the Christmas lights. :-/ Anyway, she couldn't seem to fly, though i thought i saw her flying yesterday. She was around for awhile, but i was busy (we were putting in a new kitchen window!), and later when i looked for her she was gone. I'm hoping that she got away somewhere and that the dog didn't get her....See MoreWoodland Gardeners' Bird Feeders
Comments (2)Flowerkitty, that is so interesting because you are only a bit to the south of me and perhaps 3 hours west and the same species are showing up at your feeders the same time as ours. We just had our first House Finch and mourning dove yesterday, 2 weeks ago Dark Eyed Juncos showed and a week before that was the Gold Finches. We tend not to have enough cover for Cardinals and peckers because we are a hardwood forest but we 'will' hear the peckers and if you don't blink we will get views of Downeys from time to time. I *LOVE* Blue Jays and can't wait to see them again even if they are huge PIGS. We have our peanuts in the shell ready and waiting for them. Their colours and patterns are really quite exquisite if you sit and look at them. Here the squirrels are the worst problem. We just put a baffle on the post, appropriately named "The Squirrel Baffler" and it is working well but the squirrles are VERY persistent and they sit there staring at it as though, if they stare long enough, the thing will go away. I don't mind the mourning doves so much since they will clean up spillage and we don't have pigeons but every time I'm sitting mesmerized in front of the feeders I think of a cartoon my husband devised. It was called "Bird Feeder" and showed tiny little perching birds at a feeder and a hawk flying into the scene for his lunch. Our first winter at this house, we had no neighbors and one of the rescue places near here was training a young goshawk to predate his meals in our woods. It was quite a neat thing to see. He had the bird on his hand and had a small dog scaring up mice in a huge log pile next to my house and just on the edge of the woods. The bird was not successful but it was still interesting to see how they teach them to be predators when they actually grew up in captivity/rescue. Now our whole street is finished so we won't ever see anything like that again unless it happens naturally. Barb southern Ontario, CANADA zone 6a...See MoreDid House Wren take over Nuthatch nest?
Comments (20)Hi Konrad, Kinda sad to lose your RBNH nest... but this is nature at work I guess. Yes, we lost 1 bluebird egg to a HOWR 2 seasons ago. We saw him fly to and into the nest box, and come out with the pierced egg still impaled on his beak! We were waving our arms and shouting at him, as he dropped it on the ground and flew off. It all happened in 30 seconds or less. We discouraged him with a squirt gun for days and the parent blues dived bombed him mercilessly whenever he came near. He finally stopped coming around, and I'm happy to say the other 3 eggs hatched and fledged successfully. Hope your Nuthatches try again for you, Kenn Here is a link that might be useful: Latest Slideshow...See MoreWhere are the Nuthatches????
Comments (2)we had a later fall than usual and just in last week hard freezes and snows in the mountains Here the Chickadees and nuthatches spend the summer and fall in the mountains and start showing up down here when it get nasty up high. so in last couple days are getting juncos and nuthatches and chickadees visiting the feeders. started with just a few and today more....See More
c_jester
7 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
7 years ago
catherinet
7 years agoc_jester
7 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
7 years agoc_jester
7 years ago
PROmoico inc.
7 years ago
Konrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
7 years agoKonrad..just outside of Edmonton Alberta
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoclaireplymouth z6b coastal MA
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agopawpawridgefarm
7 years agocatherinet
7 years ago
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