[seb_seb]

Having never seen a nuthatch anywhere near my house...imagine my suprise when 2(yes 2) were feeding from my seed feeder. Lovely things, i think they ma have been juveniles because they had little orange...or could have just been moulting. Will these birds stick around? Are they doing some kind of migration? Any food in particular that they like?
Any comments will be helpful thanks:)
Seb

[andythomas]

Hi Seb

Congratulations on a new garden tick. I've certainly never had Nuthatches in my garden.

They are usually very sedentary and not known for migrating at all. They've probably come from your nearest wood. Might be juvenile birds forced out by adults.

They might stick around now they've found a good food source or they might vanish again. Just enjoy them while you've got them.

I don't know if they like to eat anything in particular, but they do eat sunflower seeds and peanuts.

--
Andy

[pauco]

hi seb
very nice tick, they are a resident bird, with a likeing food wise
of nuts berries and most seeds. if you have any trees or old stumps try a few nuts mixed with fat, and place in a few holes up and down trunk as they love to climb in search of food like
woodpeckers.
bert

[Malvolio]

Very likely to be juveniles dispersing away from the breeding site at this time of year.

MV

[seb_seb]

thanks for the replys...i live very near Merrions Wood, its about a 10 minute walk, so i suppose they may have come from there. I did enjoy them with their plump shape and long bills, they stayed for about 15 minutes and then havent been back.
Its good to know that they are sedentry...so theyll probably hang around and visit my feeder more often!!:)
It would be helpful to recognise their sound to make sure they are still around and my book describes it as a powerful "piu..piu".
Seb:)

[cjay]

We stayed at my inlaws last summer & was visited by a juv Green woodpecker for two evenings. When they returned I told them what I saw. "Oh no it would'nt have been one of them, we don't get them in our garden, you must have made a mistake"

"Ha I v'e only been birding 27 years" I said "so I probably did"

The moral is you just do not know whats going to turn up.

Keep watching & keeps us up to date with the Nuthatches.

Colin.

[Michael Frankis]

Originally posted by seb_seb
It would be helpful to recognise their sound to make sure they are still around and my book describes it as a powerful "piu..piu".
Seb:)

Hi Seb,

The 'piu piu' is the spring territorial song of the males - you won't hear that at the moment. The more usual call note (which you can hear just about all year and from both males and females) is a sort of 'pwit-pwit-pwit'

Michael

[annika1970]

I have a couple of nuthatches that come to my feeder every 3 or 5 days. I'll tell you they like sunflower seeds and suet that I stuffed in a homemade suet log. They are a delight to watch. I wish mine would come everyday.

[seb_seb]

News: a single nuthatch visited the seed feeder at 10.30. He stayed for around 10 minutes feeding on the fence and feeder. Lets hope he makes a regular visit:)

[John N]

Great bird to have visiting the garden Seb. I hope it stays with you. Cheers John.