Backyard birders are familiar with the White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis), a blue-gray bird with white face and under parts, with the distinctive habit of walking face-down along tree trunks. While we enjoy the acrobatic antics of this bird year-round, their cousins the Red- breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) are only winter visitors to our gardens. The Red-breasted Nuthatch is easily identified by its reddish under belly and a strong black line through the eye. Males are most easily distinguished from females by their dark black caps; females are paler and their caps match the blue-gray coloration of their backs.

Red-breasted Nuthatches breed and summer in southern Alaska, across Canada to the Atlantic Ocean, and in higher elevations of the United States. They primarily feed on spruce and fir seeds, plus insects. Like their white-breasted relatives, they walk along tree trunks face-down, searching for hibernating bugs or spiders to snack on. They indulge in bird seed at feeders, particularly woodpecker mixes rich in peanuts and tree nuts. Frequently, nuthatches grab a few morsels and fly off to a nearby tree, where they pound the seed into crevices in the bark. They may also hide seeds in holes or in the ground. This squirrelly behavior provides emergency caches of food where other birds are unlikely to find them.

While White-breasted Nuthatches are common sights at Ohio feeders, Red-breasted Nuthatches may never make the journey south in a given year. When spruce and fir cones are plentiful, they tend to stay near their summer territories. When cones are scarce, large numbers of Red-breasted Nuthatches may appear all over the US, as far south as the Gulf Coast or even desert areas of Mexico. These variable migrations are called periodic irruptions, since their occurrence is not strictly seasonal but depends on natural food supplies. Red-breasts are unusual among irruptive birds in that they begin their travels in summer as early as July 4th, arriving in subtropical climes well before Halloween. Unfortunately for southern bird watchers, this winter is not expected to produce an irruption of Red-breasted Nuthatches, but our location just south of their breeding range makes it likely we will spot a few here before spring.

Other birds expected to remain in the Great White North this winter include Redpolls, most Grosbeaks, and Waxwings. Watch for increased visits from Pine Grosbeaks, Purple Finches, Crossbills, Pine Siskins, Goldfinches, and Blue Jays. It is not unusual, however, for a flock of uncommon birds to suddenly swarm bird feeders for only a day or two and then disappear for the rest of the winter. I like to keep my feeders full all the time just in case. Boisterous House Finches and English Sparrows seem to signal sojourning strangers that food is aplenty, so I don’t begrudge these non-native interlopers a place at my table.