The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) is a regular visitor to bird feeders and lives in the deciduous forests of Québec. It can be observed year-round in wooded areas, parks and urban centres where there are large trees. Winter is a good time to discover this remarkable bird.

It can be recognized by its black eyes and head, its white throat and breast, its bluish-grey back and the white tips of its wings and tail. Like the Brown Creeper and Red-breasted Nuthatch, it explores trunks and branches, often perched head-down, as it searches for the insects and spiders which compose most of its diet. It also consumes acorns and nuts, seeds and the suet from feeders. Watch it place a seed in a crevice in the bark, tapping the seed with its beak in order to open it, or perhaps hiding its food in these crevices for later.

The White-breasted Nuthatch is monogamous. Couples remain together permanently, until death or the disappearance of one of the partners, and share a single territory which they actively defend. In winter, they can look for food elsewhere by joining groups of other birds and by visiting feeders.

A dozen distinct cries, each having a different use, are specific to this nuthatch. Its typical song, a series of rapid, nasal, whistles on a single tone, is used to defend its territory. This nuthatch also, however, emits a soft “chirp” when it encounters a partner or when it feeds its young.

The female builds the nest alone, often in the fork of a dead tree or in a woodpecker hole. In it she lays five to nine eggs which she incubates for a dozen days, during which she is fed by the male. The two parents subsequently participate in nourishing their young. A nice example of cooperation!

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