Nuthatch

Lillian Nuthatch writing == Eggs ||  || == Nest ||  || == Habitat ||  ||
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The **White-breasted Nuthatch** (//Sitta carolinensis//) is a small [|songbird] of the [|nuthatch] family which breeds in old-growth woodland across much of temperate North America. It is a stocky bird, with a large head, short tail, powerful bill and strong feet. The upperparts are pale orange, and the face and underparts are white. It has a black cap and a chestnut lower belly. The nine [|subspecies] differ mainly in the color of the body [|plumage]. Like other [|nuthatches], the White-breasted Nuthatch forages for insects on trunks and branches, and is able to move head-first down trees. Seeds form a substantial part of its winter diet, as do [|acorns] and [|hickory] nuts that were stored by the bird in the fall. The nest is in a hole in a tree, and the breeding pair may smear insects around the entrance as a deterrent to squirrels. Adults and young may be killed by hawks, owls and snakes, and forest clearance may lead to local habitat loss, but this is a common species with no major conservation concerns over most of its range. || Like other members of its genus, the White-breasted Nuthatch has a large head, short tail, short wings, a powerful bill and strong feet; it is 13–14 cm (5–6 in) long, with a wingspan of 20–34 cm (8–11 in) and a weight of 18–30 [|g] (0.64–1.06 [|oz)].[|[][|3][|]] The nest cavity is usually a natural hole in a decaying tree, sometimes an old [|woodpecker] nest, and occasionally an artificial nest box intended for the [|Eastern Bluebird].[|[][|12][|]] The nest hole is usually 3–12 m (10–40 ft) high in a tree and is lined with fur, fine grass, and shredded bark. The clutch is five to nine eggs which are creamy-white, speckled with reddish brown, and average 19 x 82 mm (0.75 x 0.55 in) in size. The eggs are incubated by the female for 13 to 14 days prior to hatching, and the [|altricial] chicks [|fledge] in a further 18 to 26 days.[|[][|3][|]] Both adults feed the chicks in the nest and for about two weeks after fledging, and the male also feeds the female while she is incubating. ||
 * [[image:http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7153/6766730697_45d340737c.jpg width="450" height="267" caption="photo credit - Flickr Kelly Colgan Azar's photostream"]] || [[image:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Sitta-carolinensis-001.jpg/250px-Sitta-carolinensis-001.jpg align="center" caption="photo credit - Wikipedia"]] ||
 * =[|From Wikipedia:]=
 * [[image:http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2094/2087285591_3d8d4efc1e.jpg width="388" height="334" caption="Photo credit - Flickr ehpien's photostream"]] || [[image:http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4032/4275188791_aa3a0cb4f8.jpg width="400" height="273" caption="Photo credit - Flickr naathas' photostream"]] ||

"An intense bundle of energy at your feeder, Red-breasted Nuthatches are tiny, active birds of north woods and western mountains. These long-billed, short-tailed songbirds travel through tree canopies with chickadees, kinglets, and woodpeckers but stick to tree trunks and branches, where they search bark furrows for hidden insects. Their excitable //yank-yank// calls sound like tiny tin horns being honked in the treetops." credit Cornell Lab of Ornithology