I subscribe to Birds of the World by The Cornell Lab of Ornithology which is a resource found on their website that they describe as, “Birds of the World is a powerful resource that brings deep, scholarly content from four celebrated works of ornithology into a single platform where biologists and birders can find comprehensive life history information on birds. Every bird has a story. Discover them all with Birds of the World.”
When I looked up nesting of White-breasted Nuthatches there surprisingly wasn’t a lot of current information on certain topics and little information on others. The information on nest construction cited sources from 1948, 1968, and 1978. Under the section “Selection,” it only stated “Not clear which sex selects the nest site.” Under the section “Maintenance And Reuse Of Nests,” it only stated “No data but thought to reuse nests often. No information on maintenance.”
Birds of the World is a great resource but obviously doesn’t contain all the information about White-breasted Nuthatches. That’s good news. There is probably still much to be discovered about its life. The even better news is that it is a common bird found at the arboretum that I can watch, study, and enjoy. Who knows, maybe I’ll make a new and exciting discovery about its life.
A couple of weeks ago I observed this nuthatch partially cleaning out this box. A pair of nuthatches have used two different nest boxes out at the arboretum the last two summers, so maybe it is scouting out a potential nesting site for next year. White-breasted nuthatches seem like curious birds, and I see them thoroughly investigating trees. They are constantly circling branches and the trunks of trees as they forage. It is not uncommon to see one pop into the cavity of a tree to have a look around. It makes sense to keep track of potential places to seek refuge during bad weather, escape danger, nest, etc. Next spring I’ll be wondering if they decide to nest in this box. I hope to see you out there!
