The little pygmy nuthatches have been trying to empty the feeders around my house this week. In the image above, one rests for a moment on the hook that holds the feeder. 1/1250 second at f/5.6, focal length 320mm, ISO 400
The pygmy nuthatch above is sorting seeds. He tosses the ones he doesn’t want over his head as he searches for the black sunflower seeds he loves. I’ll have to fill a feeder with only black sunflower seeds! 1/640 second at f/5.6, focal length 400mm, ISO 400
The pygmy nuthatch is about 4 inches long from the tip of the tail to the tip of the beak. 1/1000 second at f/5.6, focal length 400mm, ISO 200
With more snow in the forecast, these little birds seem to be stocking up today. I know that some bird species hide a stash of seeds. At the rate the seed is leaving my feeders today, it wouldn’t surprise me to find these birds hiding the seed somewhere. They seem too small to be eating it all.
Oh gosh, they don’t get any cuter than this! I love that top picture.
My goodness! That new lens is letting you capture so much! These are wonderful!! (esp the one with the seed!) Hope you’re surviving all the snow you guys are getting up there! Just a little sown here) Stay warm!
Thank you, Wren, when I saw the bird sit on the hook (in the top pic) I knew it could be a good image with the dark of the trees in the background distant enough to blur nicely.
And thank you, Tracy. They won’t have to toss the unwanted seeds now, I’ve filled the feeder with the favorites. The snow is great, snow days alternating with sunny days, but not deep enough for snow shoeing around my house. The sub zero temps we had the other night I could do well without.
I’ve just googled nuthatches today for the first time and discovered your site, among others. I’m not a birder, but I have what I believe to be a pygmy nuthatch who has moved into the area (I live in the foothills of the Cascade Mountains on the high desert of Central Oregon, pine tree country). He feeds from my generous neighbor’s feeder, but what’s interesting about him is that I think he’s gone mad. Today I stood about two feet from my 2nd floor bathroom window and for literally ten minutes I watched him batter the other side of the glass through the small holes of the window screen. He hopped from one spot to another on the screen — sometimes right side up, sometimes upside down, sometimes horizontal — those long feet providing reliable support, and for ten minutes he did not stop — ratatatatat! ratatatatat! ratatatatat! What he was after I have no idea. And… this wasn’t the first time I’ve seen him do it. I’ve seen him once or twice on other days battering away at the metal rim around the edges of the screen. Today he stopped and departed only when a couple of mourning doves landed on the branches of a juniper tree a few feet away from him. I read online the word “endearing” applied to nuthatches, and this little guy is endearing — he’s so intent on whatever it is he’s doing, and so impressive for such a little fellow, with his big feet and his long strong beak and his determination to succeed at something he is obviously not capable of succeeding at. But I suspect my nuthatch is going nuts (pun intended), because nothing he’s doing makes any sense.
Maybe a small insect was in the frame of the window screen? Or maybe your nuthatch was trying to make a hole for a nest. They will create holes in wood siding. A wind sock or fabric streamers can be hung from the eaves to discourage this.