White-breasted Nuthatch

About the White-breasted Nuthatch

The White-breasted Nuthatch is the bird that laughs at gravity, walking headfirst down tree trunks as easily as other birds climb up. That upside-down view lets it find insects hidden in bark crevices that right-side-up woodpeckers and creepers walk right past.

Nuthatches hammer open seeds by wedging them into bark, which is where the name comes from, and they stash food all over their territory for leaner days. The nasal yank-yank call carries far through the woods and is usually the first sign one is around.

This bird was photographed in Tobe Canyon in the Davis Mountains Preserve, trooping down the big pines with a mixed flock.