# Red-breasted Nuthatch

*Sitta canadensis*

They are one of the few birds that can descend tree trunks head-first, moving in a spiral or zig-zag pattern.

- **Taxonomy:** Animalia › Chordata › Aves › Passeriformes › Sittidae › Sitta
- **IUCN Red List status:** Least Concern
- **Population trend:** increasing
- **Biome:** forest
- **Habitat:** Primarily coniferous forests of spruce, fir, and pine, occasionally mixed woodlands.
- **Diet:** Insects and spiders during breeding season; conifer seeds, especially from cones, during winter.
- **Range:** Canada, United States, Mexico (winter)
- **Size:** 11 cm long; wingspan of 18-21 cm
- **Lifespan:** 2-5 years
- **Active:** diurnal
- **Threats:** Habitat loss due to logging of old-growth conifers and climate-driven shifts in forest composition.
- **Safe to approach?:** Harmless. These active birds are safe to observe from a distance. Avoid approaching nesting cavities to prevent stress. If you find a grounded fledgling, leave it be; if injured, contact a local wildlife rehabilitator.

## About

The red-breasted nuthatch ( Sitta canadensis ) is a small songbird. The adult has blue-grey upperparts with cinnamon underparts, a white throat and face with a black stripe through the eyes, a straight grey bill and a black crown. Its call, which has been likened to a tin trumpet, is high-pitched and nasal. It breeds in coniferous forests across Canada, Alaska and the northeastern and western United States. Though often a permanent resident, it regularly irrupts further south...

## Sources

- Plate: https://gaia-dex.com/species/0a60ea20-5ffa-4b02-9080-bb8cf507d253
- iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/14823
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sitta canadensis
- Conservation status: IUCN Red List category, as recorded by Gaia-Dex
- Photo: https://inaturalist-open-data.s3.amazonaws.com/photos/226568368/medium.jpg (Claude Lyneis, CC0, via iNaturalist)

Habitat, diet, size and similar notes are AI-written summaries; check them against the linked sources before relying on them.