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Nuthatches

  • waxy

    In reply to Dave - CH:

    Ours are a little more fiesty with one another, but it's only their manner, they aren't aggressive.

    Our Robin baby has now matured and is lording it up, chasing the blue tits and sparrows. He and the nuthatches don't interact, they even feed next to each other.

    It's fascinating. I find the nuthatches direct, very quick and efficient, but also respectful (oblivious?) to their neighbours. I've also wondered if their burrowing of peanuts and pumpkin seeds is part of a ploy to attract different insects/grubs...?

    They're very smart, that's for sure! I love seeing them close up daily. A blessing.
  • Dinosaur Feet Suets
    I have dozens and dozens of Nuthatches. They are always with the Junkos and Chickadees, and try to land on my shoulders. So silly!

    I am near Ann Arbor, I see them year-round. Prior, I lived next to Detroit, I'd never even seen one before that I recall. Now they're all over here.

    One day, they will surely figure that Nuthatches and Woodpeckers evolved from the same group. Like they have done with the Downy and the Hairy Woodpeckers. Their feet attachments and running up and down the trees are amazing, just so fast! I love them.

    OK, so I make my own human-grade Vegan Vegetarian suet cakes that have taken me years to perfect.

    They LOVE them. So do all local WP's, Bluejays, Cardinals, Mourning Doves, Junkos, Chickadees, Sparrows, Titmice, and recently, Purple Finches. But I noticed, as long as my suets are out, there's those little guys running up and down the trees, so fast.

    I do feed other mixes, nuts, fruit, store-bought suets and those suet balls that are not Vegetarian, but they seem to really only be here if I put mine out. I didn't know they were so rare?

    I was so unfamiliar with them, when I first heard them in the back, hidden in some trees, I got a bird app to ID them. They are here year-round too, not sure if they usually migrate as it's been VERY cold. Even in a snowstorm or pouring rain, I'll see the Nuthatches and the Woodpeckers, sitting on my suets on the trees.
  • Internetman

    In reply to Dinosaur Feet Suets:

    Thanks for posting DFS. Here in the densely developed UK, nuthatches aren’t uncommon but they don’t love the urban setting. We see them in parks and woods but not so much in urban gardens. I guess you’re seeing red-breasted nuthatches where you are? Apparently they not only hang with the chickadees but also understand their calls.
    www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/.../
  • Dave - CH

    In reply to Internetman:

    Here, the arrival of Nuthatches normally means more present Marsh tits (although the latter are around more regularly than the former).

    Dave