Thursday Birdblogging

White-breasted nuthatch -

FeralLiberal has a resident nuthatch that he's sharing with us. He tells me they're pretty inquisitive, and don't fly off when you are around.

I have no nuthatches here, but did make their acquaintance in Missouri a few years ago. Perky thing. Well, okay, I meant the nuthatch, but feralL, too.

visit his great pics at http://www.flickr.com/photos/feralliberal

Cool Facts

* Nuthatches gather nuts and seeds, jam them into tree bark, and hammer or "hatch" the food open with their bills.

* The White-breasted Nuthatch is normally territorial throughout the year, with pairs staying together. The male is more vigilant when he forages alone than when he is with the female. The female, however, is in danger of having the more dominant male displace her from foraging sites, and she is more vigilant when he is around than when she is alone.

* In winter, the White-breasted Nuthatch joins foraging flocks led by chickadees or titmice. One explanation for these flocks is that the birds gain protection from predators by the vigilance of the other birds. In support of this idea, one study found that if titmice were removed from a flock, nuthatches were more wary and reluctant to come to exposed bird feeders.