Adults

Description

Size:  5.75”

Plumage/Description:  Male and female plumage similar.  Face, throat, and breast are pure white.  Belly is gray. Back and wings are a slaty blue-gray color.  Crown of head and nape are black.  Under-tail coverts are a rust color.

Habitat:  Pinyon/Juniper, Ponderosa/ Coniferous, Riparian/Deciduous, Residential

Time of year:  Year-round

Relative Abundance:  Common

Behavior:  Like other nuthatch species, White-breasted Nuthatches are a bark gleaner.  Using their chisel shaped beak they exfoliate bark from tree trunks in their relentless search for insects.  Often mistaken for a woodpecker based on how they shimmy up and down tree trunks.  Nuthatches will visit seed, nut and suet feeders at backyard bird feeding stations.

Diet:  Insects, seeds, nuts, suet

Similar species:  Pygmy and Red-breasted nuthatches

Best Sites:  Granite Basin, Lynx Lake, Goldwater Lake, above 6,000 feet in the Bradshaw Mountains, Mingus Mountain.