Western Bird Guide: Birds of the Rockies and West to the Pacific

by Charles K. Reed

RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH.

728. Sitta canadensis. 4½ inches.

Range.—North America, breeding in the northern part of the United States and northward. Like the former, these are great acrobats, looking into every crevice of the bark in search of their supply of food, caring little whether they are going up or down in their search. After the breeding season these birds are often found in flocks about the coniferous trees, and appear to be very sociable, keeping up a continuous “yank, yank,” among themselves. They have no other song.

Their nest is usually placed in a cavity of some tree at quite an elevation from the ground, being lined with strips of bark and feathers. They lay from four to six white eggs, thickly spotted with shades of brown (.60 × .50).