Bird Guide: Land Birds East of the Rockies, from Parrots to Bluebirds

by Chester A. Reed

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

727. Sitta carolinensis. 6 inches

Male with the crown bluish black; female with the crown gray; both sexes with chestnut under tail coverts.

These birds seem to be the very opposite of the [Brown Creepers]. Their tails are short and square, and nearly always pointed toward the zenith, for Nuthatches usually clamber among the branches and down the tree trunks, head first.

Note.—A nasal “yank-yank,” and a repeated “ya-ya,” all on the same tone.

Nest.—In cavities of hollow limbs and trunks of trees at any elevation from the ground; the cavity is filled with leaves and usually lined with feathers; eggs white, spotted with reddish brown (.75 × .55).

Range.—Eastern United States, breeding from the Gulf to southern Canada; resident in most of its range. 727b. Florida White-breasted Nuthatch (atkinsi) is slightly smaller; other races are found west of the Rockies.