“This scrap of valor just for play
Fronts the north wind in waistcoat gray,
As if to shame my weak behavior.”
The Chick-a-dee—5¼ inches
THE WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH
The Nuthatch is one of the tree trunk birds that, in the wintertime, is a close friend of the Chickadees and the Downy Woodpeckers. He is with us all the year around. Some people have called him the “Upside down bird” due to the fact that he is able to run up and down the trunks of trees in almost every conceivable position.
Food: The food of the Nuthatch consists of the small insects that live under and upon the bark of trees. The small, sharp pointed beak is well adapted to pry off sections of loose bark that may house some eggs, larvae or pupae of insects that are hidden for the cold months.
Habits: Edith M. Thomas has written a little poem about the Nuthatch. It is a good description of the acrobatic powers of these little gray birds of the woods.
“Shrewd little haunter of woods all gray,