It's not nice to play
favorites, but I'll admit, I'm biased. I adore all wild birds but none capture my
heart quite like that animated imp “Sitta Canadensis” commonly called the
Red-breasted Nuthatch.
He’s my special little sweetheart, my pal, my “Peanut,” and thus deserving of Reflections’ first “Avian Star of the Week” profile.
I first fell in love with this bouncing bundle of energy
back during the early spring of ‘09, soon after I’d begun my adventures in
birding. Enamored with my new hobby, I
decided to move past plain sunflower seeds and experiment with some of the more
exotic looking blends that filled the shelves at Fleet Farm. In particular, Kaytee brand’s Nut and Fruit Mix looked delicious. I piled a few bags in my cart and headed home
to see if my feathered friends found it equally appetizing.
No sooner had I scooped the aromatic mixture of dried
cherries, walnuts, raisins, almonds, pecans, pistachios and other delights into
the tube than a tiny ball of blue-gray and rust swooped in, just inches from my
dumbfounded face. Chattering his
approval, he plopped onto the perch and set about digging thru the
delicacies. It didn’t take long for this
forward lil’ fella to find his
favorite. With a peanut in his beak he
nodded “thanks” then flew off for the closest conifer.
A novice birder, I had no idea what he was, but I sure was impressed with his outgoing
personality. Soon after, a consult with my
new bible, Stan Tekiela’s Birds of
Minnesota, formally introduced me to the species.
Since then, we’ve been the best of buddies. The nine months
each year he resides at Bon Bon Acres are a delight. I love to watch him hop head first down the conifers
and pick thru the mix for that perfect peanut. Red-breasted Nuthatches usually select the
heaviest food source available but often sample the suet cakes and munch on sunflower
hearts. Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t!
Unfortunately, Peanut’s preferred blend is also a favorite
of those avian Darth Vaders, a.k.a. Starlings.
In their insatiable quest for
fruit, these pests would push the nuts to the ground which greatly upset Peanut
who will not eat off the earth. After a bit of experimentation, I found the
perfect solution. A “cage-type” feeder
that protects the tube from larger birds and squirrels worked like a charm and
soon became Peanut’s favorite haunt.
The Red-breasted Nuthatch is invariably the last of my
migrating birds to leave in the spring and the first to return in late summer. This year, Peanut left on June 3rd
for his summer nesting niche in the woods of northern Minnesota. In a feathered flourish he returned the last week of August. Trumpeting
his arrival, he sought me out, yack-yacked a greeting, then flew from feeder to
feeder, even checking out the njyer socks and the nectar stations.
Peanut loves it here at Bon Bon Acres. In addition to a well-stocked smorgasboard,
he never has to worry about a winter abode.
Unless too close to the house, dead trees are never removed but rather
left for habitat. Red-breasted Nuthatches
are known for taking over abandoned cavities of chickadees and woodpeckers.
Even when I can’t see him, I can most always hear his
distinctive song sounding out from the treetops. Peanut is one of those birds that just exudes
exuberance, fun and friendliness. It’s
impossible to be in his presence and not feel of good cheer.
In the birding world, good things do come in small packages!
In the birding world, good things do come in small packages!
Hear the Red-breasted Nuthatch's call
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