“White-Breasted Nuthatch, the Acrobatic Nutcracker”

The first time I met this bird, I was out for an October stroll in lakes country, Minnesota. Something caught my eye, moving quickly up and down a tree. I whipped out my phone to take a video and noticed him stopping to whack at something on the tree. It appeared to be a large nut; he was telling me his name before I knew it!

Nuthatches’ songs are a “loud, insistent, nasal yammering,” and once identified, you’ll remember it forever. Their quick, agile movements up, down, and around woodland trees, with their contrasting coloration, will catch your eye. Some have called the nuthatch the “upside-down” bird. They have a dark eye against a white face and chest, with a charcoal head stripe and bluish-grey back/wings. Males and females look almost identical, though females have a lighter grey head stripe.

Aside from seeds and nuts, they eat insects such as ants, beetles and spiders. Females build their nest in a tree cavity, often abandoned woodpecker holes, and reuse them for other breeding seasons. Both feed their young, and interestingly, they will ‘sweep’ the nest with a crushed insect in their bills for minutes, likely in effort to chemically repel predators. Pairs mate for life.

Original mixed media on raw stretched canvas with maple float frame.

This painting is on exhibition and for sale at Anne Irwin Fine Art in Atlanta, GA for the month of May 2024.

Sources: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/
https://www.audubon.org/bird-guide