The white-breasted nuthatch is an easily identified songbird in our neighborhood. The most recognizable trait of this small bird with a back of blue-gray, an underbody of white, and a black crown is that it can travel down a tree headfirst. The nuthatch is a bit of an acrobat being able to move in any direction along the tree and even travel upside down on a branch. Their song is nasal and loud and like most poor singers, they repeat is often!

The nuthatches dine on insects in the summer and enjoy your feeders in the winter. Offer them suet, safflower, black oil sunflower, and they will return to you feeder often. They use hollow cavities in trees for nesting but can also be attracted to a nest box. Interesting in Indiana, the white-breasted nuthatch is more common, but there are years when the red-breasted nuthatches visit our area. These two birds act alike only differing in the color of their underside.