{"id":52031,"date":"2018-05-07T06:23:49","date_gmt":"2018-05-07T12:23:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=52031"},"modified":"2025-05-09T12:56:57","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T17:56:57","slug":"red-breasted-nuthatches-and-their-nesting-cavities","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/05\/07\/red-breasted-nuthatches-and-their-nesting-cavities\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-breasted Nuthatches and Their Nesting Cavities"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FemaleFemale Red-breasted Nuthatch checking out a nesting cavity – Nikon D810, f10, 1\/1000, ISO 800, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Three years ago I had just returned from a camping and bird photography trip up to Idaho and Montana where I spent several productive mornings photographing a variety of cavity nesting birds including Mountain Bluebirds, Northern Flickers, Mountain Chickadees, Tree Swallows, Red-naped and Williamson’s Sapsuckers, House Wrens and Red-breasted Nuthatches. By sitting in a mobile blind and being patient I was delighted to watch as some of the birds excavated nesting cavities while others squabbled with each other over the rights to nest in older, existing cavities in a single Aspen tree.<\/p>\n

Some of these birds are primary cavity nesters while others are secondary cavity nesters. Tree Swallows, Mountain Bluebirds, House Wrens and Mountain Chickadees are secondary cavity nesters which means they rely or depend on other birds to create the cavities they use to nest in because their bills are not shaped to excavate. Northern Flickers, Red-naped and Williamson’s Sapsuckers all have bills that are shaped to excavate nesting cavities with efficiency and speed.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch in the Targhee National Forest – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1\/800, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Red-breasted Nuthatches are unique because they will use older, existing nesting cavities or they will excavate new cavities themselves to lay their eggs and raise their young in. Looking at their bills I wouldn’t have thought these small birds with little bills would be able to excavate their own cavities but they can and do. They show a preference to using aspens because aspens have soft wood but they will also use dead trees and live trees that have dead parts. Both the male and female excavate but the females tend to do more excavation than the males. The cavities are between 2.5 and 8 inches deep.<\/p>\n

I often hear Red-breasted Nuthatches before I see them, they have what I think are delightful calls<\/a><\/span> and songs<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Right now Red-breasted Nuthatches should be looking for or excavating nesting cavities here in northern Utah which means I should take a trip up to the back roads in the mountains soon and see if I can locate some closer to home than Idaho or Montana. Finding them is the hard part, in a vehicle you have to go slow to watch for the nuthatches flying in the forest or creeping up a tree. Even with keen eyes they can be hard to see.<\/p>\n

Drive too fast in a mobile blind and you will miss the Red-breasted Nuthatches or any other woodland birds for that matter, I can guarantee that. Speeding through a forest isn’t productive or helpful when looking for these tiny birds.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my Red-breasted Nuthatch photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Right now Red-breasted Nuthatches should be looking for or excavating nesting cavities here in northern Utah which means I should take a trip up to the back roads in the mountains soon and see if I can locate some closer to home than Idaho or Montana.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,2578,2244,3700,2261],"tags":[1919,2304,6487,6486,6488,3706,5136,4070,9764,2580,2579,4927,4928,3701,3702,5050],"class_list":["post-52031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-clark-county","category-idaho","category-red-breasted-nuthatches","category-targhee-national-forest","tag-aspen","tag-calls","tag-checking-out","tag-clinging","tag-excavate","tag-excavating","tag-excavation","tag-female","tag-nesting-cavities","tag-nesting-cavity","tag-nesting-tree","tag-nuthatch","tag-nuthatches","tag-red-breasted-nuthatch","tag-sitta-canadensis","tag-songs"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-breasted-nuthatch-aspen-mia-mcpherson-5227.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-dxd","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":23321,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-in-the-targhee-national-forest-idaho\/","url_meta":{"origin":52031,"position":0},"title":"Red-breasted Nuthatch in the Targhee National Forest, Idaho","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 8, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm posting just a simple Red-breasted Nuthatch image today that I photographed earlier this week in the Targhee National Forest in eastern Idaho.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch in the Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-breasted-nuthatch-idaho-mia-mcpherson-6997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-breasted-nuthatch-idaho-mia-mcpherson-6997.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/red-breasted-nuthatch-idaho-mia-mcpherson-6997.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46558,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/03\/sapsuckers-bluebirds-and-nuthatches-and-the-magical-sapsucker-tree\/","url_meta":{"origin":52031,"position":1},"title":"Sapsuckers, Bluebirds and Nuthatches and the Magical Sapsucker Tree","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Two years ago today I was in the Targhee National Forest of Clark County, Idaho photographing birds at what I called the \"Magical Sapsucker Tree\".","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Male Williamson's Sapsucker on a tree with three nesting cavities showing, Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/williamsons-sapsucker-male-nesting-tree-mia-mcpherson-7075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/williamsons-sapsucker-male-nesting-tree-mia-mcpherson-7075.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/williamsons-sapsucker-male-nesting-tree-mia-mcpherson-7075.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":36080,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/02\/22\/red-breasted-nuthatch-at-an-idaho-nesting-site\/","url_meta":{"origin":52031,"position":2},"title":"Red-breasted Nuthatch at an Idaho Nesting Site","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Seeing and photographing this Red-breasted Nuthatch was such a thrill for me that I want a repeat performance!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Calling Red-breasted Nuthatch male, Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatch-calling-mia-mcpherson-6011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatch-calling-mia-mcpherson-6011.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatch-calling-mia-mcpherson-6011.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatch-calling-mia-mcpherson-6011.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":23227,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/05\/04\/black-and-blue-all-over-with-just-a-splash-of-red\/","url_meta":{"origin":52031,"position":3},"title":"Black and Blue All Over With Just a Splash of Red","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Well, it was another fun morning at the Magical Sapsucker Tree and today the cast was joined by a pair of Mountain Bluebirds who seem dead set on taking over the Northern Flicker cavity.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Female Mountain Bluebird at a Northern Flicker nesting cavity, Targhee National Forest, Clark County, 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2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday may have started off dreary but it sure got lively with a Willamson's Sapsucker, Mountain Chickadee and a pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches at the Magical Sapsucker Tree!","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Mountain Chickadee in the Targhee National Forest, Clark County, Idaho","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/mountain-chickadee-miamcpherson-5182.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/mountain-chickadee-miamcpherson-5182.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/mountain-chickadee-miamcpherson-5182.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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