Brown-headed Nuthatch | the Intown Hawk

There’s been much nesting activity in April, as there should be. Three of the four houses on the Peachtree Park Nature Trail have occupants and there is a Red-bellied Woodpecker pair nesting in a snag on the trail: (see the recent post Nesters on the Nature Trail). The bluebird house in the Darlington Road triangle is occupied, and Bluebirds are competing with Brown-headed Nuthatches for a box three houses down. Birds are nesting in shrubbery in multiple locations in our yard and Carolina Wrens in the oven vent. This is occurring all over the neighborhood, and most likely in your yard.

Also, Goldfinches descended in mass in the trees inback of us for several days and emptied the thistle feeders every day for a few days. The morning chorus at sunrise continues to be quite loud; some singers go on almost all day, like the Brown Thrasher below. It’s a great time of year.

American Goldfinches

Blue Jay

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Carolina Chickladee – Nature Trail

Carolina Wren – Nature Trail

Carolina Wren in oven vent

Eastern Bluebird

Eastern Bluebird – Nature Trail

Eastern Bluebird

Northern Bobwhite – Atlanta History Center

Northern Cardinal

Red-bellied Woodpecker

Red-bellied Woodpecker on Nature Trail

Red-tailed Hawk

Brown Thrasher singing in a dogwood tree

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Brown-headed Nuthatch populations are declining in many areas. In fact, the brown-headed nuthatch is considered by some experts to be the least common nuthatch in North America. Brown-headed nuthatches prefer mature pine forests, and loss of this habitat has played a major role in their decline. [1]

They are small industrious birds and are fun to watch. It’s easy to tell when they are around because their call sounds like a small squeaky toy.

Brown-headed Nuthatches nesting in a snag

The good news is that, so far, they seem to be doing well in Peachtree Park. We’ve noticed them nesting here in birdhouses and snags for the last several years.

But that’s not to say that they don’t still need your help. It’s nesting season, and you can do a lot for this little bird by putting up a birdhouse. Atlanta Audubon’s Nest Boxes for Nuthatches page has information on how you can buy or build your own nest box along with other information about the Brown-headed nuthatch.

Below is a short video of a pair nesting in a birdhouse mounted on a snag just down the street from us (thanks for leaving the snag!) The video was recorded yesterday and today. We think they are still building the nest because you can see nesting material in one Nuthatch’s mouth at the beginning of the clip.