northeast-flora-and-fauna

Here's a White-breasted Nuthatch I met last summer. It and a few companions were in oak trees near the Duke Farms Haybarn. They are one of the few birds that will traverse down a tree headfirst. Their Red-breasted Nuthatch cousins will also do this, but their Brown Creeper cousins tend to face upwards when climbing trees. While their Red-breasted Nuthatch cousins are one of the few non-woodpeckers that'll peck a hole into a tree to create a nest, the White-breasted Nuthatch isn't as hardcore and will only expand a tree cavity that already exists. The name "nuthatch" comes from the birds wedging acorns and softer nuts into a tree, and then using their beaks to break (or "hatch") the nut.  September 2, 2022 at Duke Farms Photo 238962465, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

Here's another Belted Kingfisher I met extremely late last fall. I've shown these guys before , and although it's easy to "encounter" these birds (a fleeting look at a fleeing bird, a long distance look across water, or hearing their trilling call), getting recognizable pictures is a less reliable endeavor. People will sometimes try and get one of the birds they see identified though their descriptions match nothing in the area (or maybe nothing on the planet). A sighting of a "blue woodpecker" is an example of that. What could the bird have been? If it's a bird poking around on a tree, a Red-breasted Nuthatch  or a White-breasted Nuthatch are strong candidates. Though more of a bluish-gray than a conventional blue, they navigate tree trunks adroitly like woodpeckers, and they are looking for insect food up there. A Blue Jay might store food like acorns in a tree for eating later in the season and are happy enough to eat insects on trees if they f...