Sitta canadensis
Red-breasted Nuthatches are compact, blue-gray birds with short tails, sharp bills, black caps with white eye stripes. As their name indicates their breasts are red colored and the breasts of females are a duller, lighter red than the males.
A little over a week ago I said I was hopeful about taking Red-breasted Nuthatch photos in Arkansas. I have and these photos are from yesterday at the birdbath!
I'm sharing a Red-breasted Nuthatch photo taken in my yard in Utah, plus a White-breasted Nuthatch image taken in Steve Creek's yard in Arkansas this morning.
When I was out in the sky island mountains of the West Desert of Utah a few days ago I was again met with virtual silence in and around the Douglas Firs that are there.
My trip out into the sky island mountains of the West Desert last week caused my concerns about this years crop of Douglas Fir seeds to grow.
Drought stressed Douglas Fir trees will produce what is called a "stress crop" of cones which is what I believe is happening to the firs in this location.
This is my 2020 photographic year in review. I'm selecting some of my favorite photos from 2020 and a few that just make me happy to see them.
I always feel a sense of sadness when I can't get to those mountain canyons and the birds that live there all year long when they close those gates for the winter.
Red-breasted Nuthatches aren't easy to photograph because they are tiny, they move quickly and their flight patterns are fairly unpredictable. Finding the right habitat, their habitat, can make it fun.
These are the stories behind how I took these Red-breasted Nuthatch and Juniper Titmouse photos while relaxing and enjoying a lovely day in the West Desert.
If I get a single image, like this foraging Red-breasted Nuthatch feeding on the seeds of a Douglas Fir tree, I am happy.
I proudly credit being an Army Brat on discovering a great location to photograph these Red-breasted Nuthatches and other woodland birds.
What I like about this male Red-breasted Nuthatch photo is the contrast of light and shadows. While I can't see all the fine feather details in the shaded part of the nuthatch what I can see is simply enough.
The cones of Douglas Firs provide food for birds and mammals and the trees provide shelter and nesting areas too. I've been paying attention to the Douglas Firs we have here for several years because of the birds I know I can find eating the seeds of the trees from their cones.
While trying to get up into the mountains of the West Desert the other day I heard a call that excited me, it was the call of a single Red-breasted Nuthatch.
All in all, as 2018 comes to a close I realize how fortunate I am to see all the birds that I do throughout the year as a bird photographer, to be able to do what I love and to love my feathered subjects too.
The Red-breasted Nuthatches that I photographed foraging and hanging upside down yesterday weren't calling, they seem to be quiet during that activity but I could hear other nuthatches in the trees all around me.
For a few seconds yesterday morning I was thrilled to have a Red-breasted Nuthatch foraging on a Douglas Fir cone in my viewfinder directly in front of me.
Right now Red-breasted Nuthatches should be looking for or excavating nesting cavities here in northern Utah which means I should take a trip up to the back roads in the mountains soon and see if I can locate some closer to home than Idaho or Montana.
Two years ago today I was in the Targhee National Forest of Clark County, Idaho photographing birds at what I called the "Magical Sapsucker Tree".
Seeing and photographing this Red-breasted Nuthatch was such a thrill for me that I want a repeat performance!
I'm posting just a simple Red-breasted Nuthatch image today that I photographed earlier this week in the Targhee National Forest in eastern Idaho.
Well, it was another fun morning at the Magical Sapsucker Tree and today the cast was joined by a pair of Mountain Bluebirds who seem dead set on taking over the Northern Flicker cavity.
Yesterday may have started off dreary but it sure got lively with a Willamson's Sapsucker, Mountain Chickadee and a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches at the Magical Sapsucker Tree!