Brown-headed Nuthatch

Overview

Brown-headed Nuthatch: Medium nuthatch, gray upperparts, brown cap, small, white nape patch, dark eye-line, white face, buff underparts. Wings and tail are gray. Legs and feet are black. Weak fluttering flight of short duration, alternates rapid wing beats with wings drawn to sides.

Range and Habitat

Brown-headed Nuthatch: Resident in much of the southeastern U.S. Preferred habitats include coniferous and mixed forests.

INTERESTING FACTS

The Brown-headed Nuthatch is one of only a few bird species in the world known to use tools. By holding a small piece of bark in its bill, they pry open bark on trees to expose insects.
Their population has decreased by 2 percent per year, a 45 percent decline over the last 35 years.
They are one of the few birds found almost exclusively in the United States.
A group of nuthatches are collectively known as a "jar" of nuthatches.

The Brown-headed Nuthatch is native to the United States, Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas. This bird has a range of almost 1 million square kilometers. The population of the Brown-headed Nuthatch is thought to be around 1.5 million individual birds. In 2004, the evaluation rating of the Brown-headed Nuthatch was changed from Lower Risk to Least Concern as a result of its large population. At this time there is no concern that the population of the Brown-headed Nuthatch will be in danger of decrease.