European Nuthatch

Above: Nuthatch
Below: Classic nuthatch 'head-down' pose.

The nuthatch is an active, interesting and attractively marked bird. They are widespread throughout most of the southern half of the UK from North Wales and Cheshire in the North to the south coast and also the North East of England. They are rare, if not absent, elsewhere in England and Scotland and absent from Ireland.

They are not particularly shy. Being quite happy to go about their business quite close to humans. They love peanuts and sunflower seeds, sometimes scattering mixed seeds from a feeder to get at these preferred items. They are also quite aggressive, seeing off other birds attempting to share the feeder whilst they are eating from it. Seeds and nuts are taken to a crack in the bark of a tree where they use their dagger-like bill to break them up and eat them one small piece at a time. They are often found perched on the trunk of a tree or a bird feeder in a classic 'head down' pose and are the only bird that I know that adopts an "upside down" stance when using a feeder.

As birds go they are quite colourful. The back and crown are a pale slate grey whilst the underside is a warm buff colour. (Note: Continental birds in Europe have more white on their undersides, some races being completely white underneath). The cheeks and chin are white and there is a conspicuous black stripe through the eye curving down round the back of the cheek. The tail is very short, slate grey with white outer edges and the tail covert is a bizarre pattern of reddish and white spots. The legs are brown and the claws long as you would expect from a bird that walks down tree trunks.

There are lots of places to see nuthatches in the North West. Lymm Dam, Dunham Park and Tatton Park being some places where you can get quite close without the birds seeming to be concerned. The best place for photography however, is the Boyd Observatory at Rostherne, Cheshire. You'll need a permit to get in but it's worth it as the nuthatches get so close that you could almost reach out and touch them. If you don't want to get a permit you could try Risley Moss where I have seen and photographed nuthatch (the bottom left picture, for example) but I've not seen nuthatch at this site for a while. However, I have been told that the nuthatch are appearing regularly again so may be worth a visit.