Red-breasted Nuthatch Identification

The Four Keys to ID

• Size & Shape

  A small, compact bird with a sharp expression accentuated by its long, pointed bill. Red-breasted Nuthatches have very short tails and almost no neck; the body is plump or barrel-chested, and the short wings are very broad.

  Relative Size

  Noticeably smaller than a White-breasted Nuthatch

  sparrow-sized or smaller

  Measurements

  • Both Sexes
  • • Length: 4.3 in (11 cm)
    • Weight: 0.3-0.5 oz (8-13 g)
    • Wingspan: 7.1-7.9 in (18-20 cm)

  © Scott Martin / Macaulay Library

• Color Pattern

  Red-breasted Nuthatches are blue-gray birds with strongly patterned heads: a black cap and stripe through the eye broken up by a white stripe over the eye. The underparts are rich rusty-cinnamon, paler in females.

• Behavior

  Red-breasted Nuthatches move quickly over trunks and branches probing for food in crevices and under flakes of bark. They creep up, down, and sideways without regard for which way is up, and they don’t lean against their tail the way woodpeckers do. Flight is short and bouncy.
• Habitat

  Red-breasted Nuthatches are mainly birds of coniferous woods and mountains. Look for them among spruce, fir, pine, hemlock, larch, and western red cedar as well as around aspens and poplars. In northeastern North America you can also find them in forests of oak, hickory, maple, birch, and other deciduous trees.