Article originally appeared in the Savannah Morning News.
What bird is 4 inches long, lives in the southeastern United States, prefers pine forests, walks headfirst down tree trunks, visits bird feeders for sunflower seeds, suet and peanuts, and sounds like a bathtub squeaky toy?
You guessed it! It is the tiny, feisty and ever-so-cute brown-headed nuthatch. Data collected from breeding bird surveys has shown that this endearing and entertaining species has been declining over much of its range, probably due to loss of its favorite habitat: mature pine forest. It may also be suffering from being out-competed for nest boxes by the ever-popular eastern bluebird.
Last year, Audubon North Carolina came up with an ambitious goal — 10,000 nest boxes for nuthatches. The Audubon Council in Georgia has jumped on the bandwagon in hopes that, with an initial installation of 90 boxes and a lot of education and recruiting, we humans can give the nuthatches the same kind of boost that we provided to eastern bluebirds some 15 years ago.
Thanks to a grant from National Audubon, the Georgia Audubon Council was able to purchase 90 nuthatch boxes. These were distributed among the state’s seven Audubon chapters.
Our local chapter, Ogeechee Audubon, received 10 boxes. Four have been installed at Skidaway Island State Park, four at Oatland Island Wildlife Center, and two will soon be installed at Waste Management’s Superior Landfill. While National Audubon provided the grant to build the boxes, the local chapter provided the funds needed to mount the boxes on poles and equip them with predator guards.
Ninety boxes are a far cry from 10,000. That’s where each of us comes in. If you have nuthatches in your yard, or if you have pine trees near by, consider adding a nuthatch box. Basically, the box is identical to the one you would put up for a bluebird, but the entrance hole should be 1 inch to 1
⅛ inch. If you already have several boxes with the 1½-inch hole favored by bluebirds, it is easy to install a metal guard with a smaller opening. They are available at your local birdseed supply store.
If you are buying or building a box, consider the following:
1. Easy to open for monitoring and cleaning (Side opening can be easier for monitoring)
2. Adequate ventilation and drainage
3. Roof overhang to keep rain off the entrance hole
4. Metal guard around the 1 to 1 1/8 inch hole to prevent woodpeckers or squirrels from enlarging the hole
5. Mount on a pole with a predator guard
Unlike bluebirds, nuthatches usually nest only once or rarely twice in a season. They get started early in our area, usually between late-February and mid-March. Father Nuthatch often roosts in the box with Mom and the kids, and it is not uncommon for them to have a helper, usually an unmated male, to bring food to the female and the babies.
Brown-headed nuthatches creep around on the branches and trunks of pine trees, dining on insects and pine seeds. They are particularly fond of cockroaches, beetles, spiders, and other insects and their eggs. They are known for their ability to take a piece of bark and use it as a lever to pry up the bark to get to the tasty tidbits hiding in the crevices.
Orphaned Bird Care, operated by licensed rehabilitator Pat Wolters, has raised a number of brown-
headed nuthatches through the years. Baby nuthatches are impossibly cute and start squeaking at an early age.
Please, if the nuthatches sneak into your box before the bluebirds, don’t evict them! In fact, you might add a portal to make the hole smaller, and then change it out after the nuthatches fledge a mere five weeks later. Bluebirds nest two and three times in a season so they can always get the box for the next round.
How many nuts could a nuthatch hatch if a nuthatch could hatch nuts? Good birding!
