These chunky little birds are fairly common around the Aerie. I've seen four or five at a time at the feeders and in the trees. Usually they fly in, snatch a seed and then head out to the trees where they will land on the trunk facing downward, wedge the seed into a crack in the bark and hammer away at it to get at the meat inside.
A White-breasted Nuthatch scopes out the cameraman.
The handsome little one shows off its profile.
Looking for just the right seed. This bird threw two orthree aside before it was satisfied with its selection.
But at least one bird has learned that the cracks, or checks, in the deck posts are a good substitute for a tree's bark. Less energy wasted in flying back and forth, too.
The seed stuffed into a post's crack and the little birdputs everything it has into getting at what's inside.
2 comments:
I heard a loud thunk on the window today, and wasn't sure what it was until a couple of hours later. A small bird was on my porch, looking dead but I could see him breathing.
I figured he wasn't long for the world so I left him and went to the store. But I noticed his little head bob up as I started the car.
An hour later upon my return, he was still there. Surely his wing is broken, I thought. I walked up to it, and his head came up and he looked at me and I could tell he was going to move in some fashion. Well, he did. He flew straight at me, attacked me and flew up into the tree. Little bugger broke his leg, it seems. Still, he's better off in the tree than on my porch where the stray cats will have him for dinner!
Joan--I had one bird last winter that came to the feeder on several occasions that had only one foot. It seemed to have adjusted well to its handicap as it balanced on its remaining leg and used the off wing to balance.
I've had several birds hit the window hard and collapse to the deck. I't pick them up and put them on the planter or deck rail and watch them. They'd be groggy for quite some time and then, suddenly, off they would go.
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