Birds › Backyard › White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Sitta carolinensis

Nuthatches walk headfirst down tree trunks, finding insects that birds climbing upward miss.

In your real yard: Sunflower seed, peanuts and suet.

Spot it in the game

Lives in the Backyard habitat (Eastern North America).

White-breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis — Photo: Chris O'Donoghue, CC BY 4.0, via iNaturalist. Cut out from the original photo.

White-breasted Nuthatch facts

Family: Nuthatches
Length: 5.5 in (14 cm)
Wingspan: 9.4 in (24 cm)
Weight: 0.7 oz (21 g)
Diet: Insects, plus acorns and seeds that it wedges in bark and hacks open.
Range: Most of the United States, southern Canada and the mountains of Mexico, wherever there are big trees.
Nest: A tree hole lined with bark strips and fur.
Song: A fast series of nasal "wha-wha-wha" notes and a "yank" call.
Active: by day
Status: Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: widespread and not at risk.

What the White-breasted Nuthatch sounds like

Recording 1: Jonathon Jongsma, CC BY-SA 3.0, original on xeno-canto. Trimmed and cleaned of low background noise.

How to attract the White-breasted Nuthatch

Feeder foods, favorite first: sunflower seed, peanuts, suet. Feeders that hold them: tube feeder, platform feeder and suet cage. Keep a bird bath full, too.

In the game: fill a feeder with sunflower seed, peanuts and suet and keep the bird bath full. It is a common visitor.

More: bird songs and calls, what to feed birds.