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White-breasted Nuthatch

The White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) is a small songbird of the nuthatch family which breeds in old-growth woodland across much of temperate North America. It is a stocky bird, with a large head, short tail, powerful bill, and strong feet. The upperparts are pale blue-gray, and the face and underparts are white. It has a black cap and a chestnut lower belly. The nine subspecies differ mainly in the color of the body plumage.

Like other nuthatches, the white-breasted nuthatch forages for insects on trunks and branches and is able to move head-first down trees. Seeds form a substantial part of its winter diet, as do acorns and hickory nuts that were stored by the bird in the fall. The nest is in a hole in a tree, and the breeding pair may smear insects around the entrance as a deterrent to squirrels.

Nuthatch taxonomy is complex, with geographically separated species sometimes closely resembling each other. The white-breasted nuthatch has an appearance and contact call similar to those of the white-cheeked nuthatch, Sitta leucopsis, of the Himalayas and was formerly considered to be conspecific with it.

White-breasted Nuthatch

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