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Friday, November 09, 2012

Red-breasted Nuthatches are irrupting too! Are you seeing them?

Red-breasted Nuthatch, female, has a gray cap

Red-breasted Nuthatch, male, has a black cap

Another bird we are getting at our feeders is Red-breasted Nuthatch. Very cute bird! We are hearing reports that they are being seen far down from their usual winter range, a sign that they, like Pine Siskins, Evening Grosbeak,s and others, are irrupting, or leaving their usual winter range because of food scarcity there. We are in the permanent range of this bird, so we do see them regularly, but we heard from birders that they are being seen as far south as GA.
Though I would share these photos.
Tell us if you are seeing any Red-breasted Nuthatches
For information on where to see the most updated winter, summer, year-round ranges and migration routes of all the bird species see our new The Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America.

7 comments:

Nathan said...

I had one at my Northern Virginia bird feeder last week. Pine siskins too.

Scott Simmons said...

Several have been found in Central Florida. I found one on Merritt Island on Sat. 11/3. It's pretty exciting.

Kevin said...

The first few arrived in our College Station, TX yard a couple weeks ago. It is very nostalgic to see/hear them, as RB Nuthatches are resident species in our previous location in central NY. They would even take peanuts out of my hand.

NCmountainwoman said...

We have them here in western NC right now. We typically see one or two every day.

Anonymous said...

I have been seeing them at my feeder for weeks now.Saw 3 on feeder this morning.Charleston,SC

Unknown said...

They are being found here in Citrus County Florida. I was in Cedar Key Jan ll and they are still there in several numbers.

obxbirdwatcher said...

I have been seeing them at my bird feeder over the last couple of months, on the Outer Banks of NC, for the first time. A neighbor also has been seeing them and didn't know what they were. I had a hard time identifying them because they acted like a woodpecker at first. We have several and they seem to be unafraid, to a point.