Red-breasted nuthatch

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Red-breasted nuthatch
Sitta canadensis CT2.jpg
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sittidae
Genus: Sitta
Species: S. canadensis
Binomial name
Sitta canadensis
Linnaeus, 1766


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Like all nuthatches, the red-breasted nuthatch is assigned to the genus Sitta (Linnaeus, 1758),[2] a name derived from sittē (σιττη), the Ancient Greek word for the Eurasian nuthatch. The specific epithet canadensis is New Latin for "belonging to Canada".[3] The species was given its scientific name by Carl Linnaeus in 1766, based on a specimen collected in Canada.[4] "Nuthatch" is a linguistic corruption of "nuthack", referring to the bird's habit of wedging nuts into cracks in tree bark and hacking at them until they break open.[5] "Red-breasted" is a reference to the rusty colour of the male's underparts.[3]


In the past, the red-breasted nuthatch and four other species — the Corsican nuthatch, the Chinese nuthatch, the Algerian nuthatch and the Krüper's nuthatch — were thought to be a single species.[6] These five make up a well-defined species group known as the "Sitta canadensis group", and are sometimes considered to be a superspecies.[4] Within the species group, DNA studies have shown that the red-breasted nuthatch, the Corsican nuthatch and the Chinese nuthatch make up one clade and the Algerian nuthatch and Krüper's nuthatch make up a sister clade.[7] The red-breasted nuthatch is monotypic across its extensive range.[4]


The red-breasted nuthatch is a small passerine, measuring 4.5 in (11 cm) in length,[nb 1][9] with a wingspan of 8.5 in (22 cm) and a weight of 9.9 g (0.35 oz).[10] Its back and uppertail are bluish, and its underparts rust-colored. It has a black cap and eye line and a white supercilium (eyebrow). Sexes are similarly plumaged, though females and youngsters have duller heads and paler underparts.[9]


The red-breasted nuthatch's call is high-pitched, nasal and weak. Transcribed as yenk or ink,[10] they have been likened to a toy tin horn[9] or a child's noisemaker.[11] Its song is a slowly repeated series of clear, nasal, rising notes, transcribed as eeen eeen eeen.[10]

Habitat and range[edit]

Though it is primarily a full-time resident of northern and subalpine conifer forests, the red-breasted nuthatch regularly migrates irruptively, with both the number migrating and the wintering locations varying from year to year.[9] They sometimes reach northern Mexico, where they are rare winter visitors to Nuevo Leon, Baja California Norte and south along the Pacific slope as far as Sinaloa.[12] In the eastern United States, its range is expanding southwards.[9] Though formerly resident on Isla Guadalupe, an island off the western coast of Mexico, it appears to have been extirpated there, with the last known record of the species on the island dating from 1971. There is a single vagrant record for Mexico's Isla Socorro.[12] It is an extremely rare vagrant to Europe, with two records in the western Palearctic; one bird successfully overwintered in eastern England.[13]

Feeding behavior and diet[edit]

Like all nuthatches, the red-breasted nuthatch is an acrobatic species, hitching itself up and down tree trunks and branches to look for food.[9] It goes headfirst when climbing down. It can "walk" on the underside of branches. Unlike woodpeckers and creepers, it does not use its tail as a prop while climbing.[14] It tends to forage singly or in pairs.[12]




This bird excavates its own cavity nest, 1.53–37 m (5.0–121.4 ft) above ground (usually around 4.6 m (15 ft)). Excavation is by both sexes and takes one to eight weeks.[16] The pair smears sap around the entrance hole, presumably to help deter predators.[14] The nest is lined with grass, moss, shredded bark and rootlets. Nest building is by both sexes, but mostly by the female.


Conservation status and threats[edit]





  4. ^ a b c Harrap 2008, p. 136
  6. ^ Elphick, Dunning and Sibley 2001, p. 435
  7. ^ Pasquet, Eric (January 1998). "Phylogeny of the nuthatches of the Sitta canadensis group and its evolutionary and biogeographic implications". Ibis (Abstract) 140 (1): 150–156. doi:10.1111/j.1474-919X.1998.tb04553.x. 
  9. ^ a b c d e f Dunn, Jon L.; Alderfer, Jonathan, eds. (2006). National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America (5 ed.). Washington DC: National Geographic. p. 341. ISBN 0-7922-5314-0. 
  14. ^ a b Reed 2001, p. 437
  16. ^ Reed 2001, p. 436

Cited texts[edit]

  • Reed, J. Michael (2001). "Nuthatches". In Elphick, Chris; Dunning, Jr., John B.; Sibley, David. The Sibley Guide to Bird Life & Behaviour. London: Christopher Helm. ISBN 0-7136-6250-6. 

External links[edit]