Species
Brown-headed nuthatch
Sitta pusilla
A tiny, squeaky-voiced nuthatch of southern pine woods that uses bark flakes as tools to find insects.
Photo Judy Gallagher (opens in a new tab) / iNaturalist, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab)
At a glance
- Size
- About 9 to 11 cm long
- Weight
- About 10 g
- Habitat
- Open pine woods and suburbs with pines
- Diet
- Pine seeds and insects
- In Georgia
- Common resident in the south; less common in the north
- Voice
- A squeaky "kit-kit-kit", like a rubber duck
- Rabies vector
- No
Identification
- Key marks
- Tiny; blue-grey back; brown cap; white nape spot; pale underparts
- Told apart from
- Red-breasted nuthatch, which has a black cap and white eyebrow
- Where to look
- Pines, often in noisy family groups
Behaviour
Brown-headed nuthatches sometimes use a flake of bark as a lever to pry up other bark and find insects — a rare example of tool use in birds. Young from earlier years sometimes help raise new broods.
Why they matter
Brown-headed nuthatches are specialists of southern pine forests, especially old, open, fire-maintained pines. They have declined where those forests were lost and are a sign of healthy pine woods.
Reproduction and lifecycle
Nest — A cavity in a dead pine or stump, or a nest box
Eggs — Usually four to six
Incubation — About 14 days
Chicks — Fed by the parents and sometimes helpers
Flight — At about 18 to 19 days
Lifespan — Several years
Living around people
- Dead pine snags and nest boxes help them nest.
- Keeping some pines standing in yards supports them.
Misconceptions
- Birds cannot use tools. Brown-headed nuthatches use bark flakes as tools.
Related species
Seasonal activity
When this species is breeding, and when there are nests on the ground. Mowing during the shaded months is how most nests are found.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breeding | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Active nests | Jan: no | Feb: no | Mar: no | Apr: no | May: no | Jun: no | Jul: no | Aug: no | Sep: no | Oct: no | Nov: no | Dec: no |
| Notes | Family groups | Nest excavation | Nesting | Chicks | Young fledging | Family groups | Family groups | Family groups | Family groups | Family groups | Family groups | Family groups |
Where it lives
Recorded in 13 states and provinces. Each one links to the other animals there, and to the rehabilitators licensed for them.
If you found one
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