Animal Field Guide

Red-breasted Nuthatch

Sitta canadensis
(Sittidae)

Global Rank: G5
State Rank: S5

Agency Status
USFWS:
USFS: none
BLM: none

A small nuthatch 11.5 cm in length and 10 g in body mass. In the adult male the top of the head is black and is boardered below by a white superciliary stripe and a black strip extending from the base of the bill through the eye to the nape. The remaining upperparts are bluish gray. The underparts are primarily reddish-cinnamon. The adult female is similar but the top of the head is dark gray-blue, not black. The eye-stripe is never as wide or as black as the male. The underparts are paler. (Ghalambor and Martin. The Birds of North America, No. 459, 1999)

In the Bozeman area, vertical movements and/or migration occur April 20 to May 20 and August 1 to September 25.

Prefers forests that have a strong fir and spruce component. May also breed in mixed woodland when a strong coniferous component is associated with deciduous trees such as aspen, oak and poplar. (Ghalambor and Martin 1999).

Eats mainly arboreal arthropods during the breeding season and a large number of conifer seeds outside the breeding season. (Ghalambor and Martin 1999). The species is known to cache and cover conifer seeds (Hendricks 1995).

Typically only 1 brood per season. Female selects the nesting tree. The nests are open and built up from a variety of grasses, strips of bark and pine needles. Clutch size ranges from 5 to 8 eggs, typically 6. (Ghalambor and Martin 1999). Young were noted being fed in late July. Near Fortine, early young were in the nest on May 28. The earliest young have been reported out of the nest was June 15 (Weydemeyer 1975). Egg records date from May 15 to July 25.