Nuthatches: Cute and Tough as Well
You've really got to love nuthatches. Next to the Black-capped Chickadee they're probably the most common small native songbird that Albertans are likely to see in parks and backyard feeders, but nuthatches are still enjoyable to watch and worth getting to know better. There are two species in Alberta that we'll touch on, as well as one just over the border and another more cryptic nuthatch-like bird. Nuthatches are a bird family of their own, the Sittidae, and in general are small, stubby woodland birds with chisel-shaped bills for getting inside seed casings. They're little balls of energy too, always zipping around looking for food or defending their territory from other breeding pairs. Nuthatches cling to tree trunks almost like tiny woodpeckers. Alberta's two nuthatch species are the Red-breasted Nuthatch ( Sitta canadensis ) and the White-breasted Nuthatch ( Sitta carolinensis ). Luckily for novice birdwatchers, they're easy to tell apart. While both ar...