The nuthatch is another woodland bird that has adapted well to our gardens, and many of us will have seen one hanging expertly from a peanut feeder at some stage.
In the spring they tend to be higher up in the trees, and less easy to see among the leaves. This is when knowing their calls makes them much easier to find.
The one we encounter most often is the ‘dweep dweep’ sound. This is one of their contact calls, and is made through the year. It’s loud and can be given very insistently.
In the spring they also make a whinnying noise which is their song, something you may well hear as you walk through a woodland in April. Like woodpeckers, nuthatches like to make this territorial sound from a high perch.
If you’re lucky enough to get a good look, there’s not much to confuse a nuthatch with. They are buff orange underneath, a slaty grey-blue on top, and sport an excellent Zorro-style mask across the eye.
They are the only bird you are likely to see moving confidently face-first down a tree trunk, which they often do as they feed. Other treehuggers such as woodpeckers and treecreepers almost always head up.
Nuthatches are found in many wooded areas across England and Wales, but they do need mature trees and are not likely to be seen in very open landscapes.
They don’t like to fly any great distance, and certainly not over water, which helps explain why they are completely absent from the island of Ireland. They are also absent from most of Scotland, although they are starting to spread from the south.
Perhaps as the highland trees begin to return, so will they.
So for nuthatch listen for the ‘dweep dweep’ call and look out for a bird heading face-first downhill.
The first run of the 10-week British Birdsong 101 course is now half-way through. I’m taking expressions of interest for a second cohort to join from April to June - do get in touch if you would like further details.
Media credits:
Thanks to the British Library for the audio
Image by Piet van de Wiel from Pixabay
Nuthatch