Tag Archives: Brown-headed Nuthatch

Monthly Journal – December, 2015

Leave a reply

Our wildlife photos for December are mostly of birds.   Of the 22 species shown below, some are migrants, some are winter residents and some are here year-round.  With all the unseasonably warm weather there have been lots of ladybugs.  We were unable to get a photo of our pal the opossum, but take it from us, he’s a handsome guy.

White-throated Sparrow – Zonotrichia albicollis
White-breasted Nuthatch – Sitta carolinensis
Tufted Titmouse – Baeolophus ridgwayi
Song Sparrow – Melospiza melodia
Ruby-crowned Kinglet – Regulus calendula
Red-winged Blackbird – Agelaius phoeniceus
Pine Warbler – Setophaga pinus
Northern Mockingbird – Mimus polyglottos
Northern Cardinal – Cardinalis cardinalis
Mourning Doves – Zenaida macroura
Ladybug on Japanese Maple
House Finch – Haemorhous mexicanus
Great Blue Heron – Ardea herodias
Golden-crowned Kinglet – Regulus satrapa
Eastern Phoebe – Sayornis phoebe
Downy Woodpecker – Picoides pubescens
Common Grackle – Quiscalus quiscula
Carolina Wren – Thryothorus ludovicianus
Brown-headed Nuthatch – Sitta pusilla
Blue Jay – Cyanocitta cristata
American Goldfinch – Spinus tristis
American Robin – Turdus migratorius
Red-tailed Hawk – Buteo jamaicensis

Happy New Year!

This is MY Turf

2 Replies

Brown-headed NuthatchMating season means it’s time to stake out your territory.

This morning I was standing under the large Japanese Maple in our front yard waiting to take a photo of the Eastern Bluebirds who are moving into a bird house close by.  I was standing right next to the trunk hoping to be indistinguishable from the tree.

Brown-headed NuthatchTwo Brown-headed Nuthatches landed in the tree and began being very vocal and hopping around a lot.  They were less than  six feet away from me at times and completely oblivious to my presence.  All of a sudden there was much commotion and I lost them both.

Then there was a racket and much squabbling, and when I looked down the two were on the ground very close to me grappling with each other.  You could speculate that they were mating, but most likely it was a fight over territory.  It’s hard to tell male from female Brown-headed Nuthatches based on appearance, so this provided no clues.  Take a look at these photos and see what you think.

Looking back on it, I think all of the movement in the tree was posturing.  The fact that they were unaffected by my presence suggests that they had much more important issues to deal with.