Nuthatches
Brown-headed Nuthatch
Sitta pusilla
A tiny southeastern nuthatch tied to pine woodland. It will use a small feeder and is one of the few birds known to use tools in the wild.
- Food to offer
- Sunflower
- Peanuts
- Suet
- Feeder that suits it
- Small tube or suet cage
- Size
- Small
- When to expect it
- Year-round (southeastern pine woods)
- Region
- Southeast
Photos of Brown-headed Nuthatch
3 imagesFeeding Brown-headed Nuthatch at a glance
For someone putting out food for the first time.
What to put out
- Black-oil sunflower
- Peanuts
- Suet
Best feeder and placement
Small tube or suet cage.
How it behaves at the feeder
Tiny and active, often in small family groups in pine woods.
How to recognise it
Very small nuthatch with a brown cap, white face and blue-grey back.
Often confused with
Pygmy Nuthatch — Pygmy has a grey cap; Brown-headed has a brown cap. Both are tiny and western/eastern respectively.
One thing to watch
A southeastern pine specialist. It needs pines nearby, not just a feeder.
A pine-woods specialist
This is a bird of southeastern pine woodland, not a generalist garden bird. It needs pines, and it needs them nearby. A feeder in an open suburb without pines is unlikely to attract one, however good the food.
Within the right habitat it is a regular feeder visitor, often in small noisy groups rather than alone.
The tool use
Brown-headed Nuthatches have been observed using a flake of bark to pry up other bark and expose insects — one of a small number of birds documented using tools in the wild. It is not something you will see every visit, but it is a real behaviour, not a myth.
At a feeder, the tool use matters less than the size: this is a very small bird, and a small feeder with small seeds suits it best.
Common questions
Do they really use tools?
Yes — they have been recorded using bark flakes to pry up bark while foraging. It is one of the few documented examples among North American birds.
Why don't I have them?
They are pine-woods specialists of the southeast. Without pines nearby, a feeder will not bring them in.
What should I put out?
Sunflower, peanuts and suet, in a small feeder that gives a tiny bird a fair chance.