If the folklore holds true, Block Island is in
for a cold winter. At the Block Island Banding
Station at Clayhead, the first Nuthatch was netted
on September 30th and a total of 8 Nuthatches have
been banded so far this season, the most since 1997.
Generally it is the White-breasted Nuthatch that is seen throughout New England, but on Block Island, which lacks forest habitat, it is the Red-breasted Nuthatch that in some years occurs in unusual numbers. For reasons not entirely known, Red-breasted Nuthatches demonstrate irruptive migrations; a time when large numbers expand into areas southward of their usual wintering grounds, which is the forested areas of the northern United States. The Red-breasted Nuthatch is considered an irregular winter visitor in Rhode Island.
 Red-breasted
Nuthatches (Sitta canadensis):
- are chunky little birds (4 - 4.5 inches) usually seen on tree trunks or hanging upside down on branches and from pine cones.
- are slate-blue above, reddish below, have a white face with strong black (males) or duller charcoal (female) markings on their head and through their eye.
- have long toe nails for gripping bark, and an up-turned lower bill which makes a fine "pry bar" for searching out insects, seeds and nuts.
- are unique in their habit of moving head first from the upper parts of a tree to the lower parts.
It is the foraging techniques that have given the Red-breasted Nuthatch a variety of names: "devil-down-head" and "topsy-turvy-bird". Nuthatch is a variation on "nuthack", derived from the bird's habit of wedging a seed or nut in the crevice of a tree and hacking at it with its bill until the shell falls away.
Whatever you choose to call it, the Red-breasted Nuthatch is a charming little bird that seems to be more common this year than most. So look for it, and its relative the White-breasted Nuthatch, among Block Island's rare evergreen trees, or more likely outside your window at the bird feeder.
Part of Forbush's description in Birds of Massachusetts
and Other New England States (1927) is especially
delightful:
| "HAUNTS AND HABITS. The
dumpy little Red-breasted Nuthatch when
seen among our other feathered tree-climbers
seems like a small boy at play among his
elders. .The Red-breasted Nuthatch is an
exceedingly active little bird and is at
home on any part of a tree. It climbs freely
also about rocks and buildings and like
the White-breasted Nuthatch occasionally
goes to ground. Its flight is undulating
and it seems to fairly bound through the
air. Despite its short tail it seems to
turn rather readily while pursuing insects
in the air. Usually it is very tame and
confiding-some individuals are exceedingly
so. Miss Mabel T. Tilton of Vineyard Haven,
Massachusetts, tamed one so that it came
to her hand almost as confidently as a Chickadee.
It took all kinds of liberties with her
finger nails and seemed to enjoy warming
its cold feet in her hand as it was in no
haste to be off." |
|
Connecting People and Nature