Montana Field Guide

Small nuthatch, length 9 to 11 cm; mass 9.3 to 11 g. Sexes alike; immatures similar to adults. Crown gray-brown, dark eye-line marks cap. Pale spot on nape. Face white or buffy white, breast and belly dull to bright buff to buffy white, blending into bluish gray on sides. Back, rump, and tail bluish gray; base of middle pair of rectrices white. Wings brownish slate with coverts edged with bluish gray and primaries edged, more or less, with white. A bird of frenetic movement - head first, up tree, down tree, along branches, right-side up and upside down - accompanied by constant chatter (Kingery and Ghalambor 2001).

For a comprehensive review of the conservation status, habitat use, and ecology of this and other Montana bird species, please see Marks et al. 2016, Birds of Montana.

Lives in long-needled pine forests, principally ponderosa pines. Reaches its highest densities in mature pine forests little affected by logging, firewood collection, and snag removal (Kingery and Ghalambor 2001).

Feeds mainly on weevils and leaf and bark beetles, but also eats pine seed. At feeders, eats suet and sunflower seeds (Kingery and Ghalambor 2001).

Near Missoula, territory sizes ranged from 1.8 to 3.9 hectares. Adult conspecific helpers were observed at nests.

A cavity nester, can excavate own cavity, but will use woodpecker holes and natural cavities. Eggs are short subelliptical to short-oval in shape; color white, sparsely and variably speckled or spotted chestnut red, reddish brown or purplish brown. Clutch size typically 5 to 9, average 7 eggs (Kingery and Ghalambor 2001). Near Missoula, mean clutch size was 7.3 eggs, the median date of the first egg was May 14, and females spent 80.7% of the time on the nest. Near Fortine, adults were feeding young on July 24.