{"id":54963,"date":"2018-11-11T04:58:32","date_gmt":"2018-11-11T11:58:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=54963"},"modified":"2025-05-09T13:15:16","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T18:15:16","slug":"red-breasted-nuthatches-hanging-upside-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/11\/11\/red-breasted-nuthatches-hanging-upside-down\/","title":{"rendered":"Red-breasted Nuthatches Hanging Upside Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch in the Stansbury Mountains – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 800, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I photographed more Red-breasted Nuthatches yesterday morning and these nuthatches spent a lot of time hanging upside down on Douglas Fir cones. They basically have to hang on that way so that they have easy access to the seeds in the cones.<\/p>\n

I noticed several of the nuthatches flying away with the seeds and that most likely means they are caching them to store and eat later on this winter when foraging can get tough because of cold temps and poor weather. Some of the seeds were eaten right away too.<\/p>\n

I often hear these nuthatches before I see them and to my ears their call is very distinctive, a recording of a male can be heard here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch hanging upside down – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/400, ISO 800, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Red-breasted Nuthatches that I photographed foraging and hanging upside down yesterday weren’t calling, they seem to be quiet during that activity but I could hear other nuthatches in the trees all around me. I’m glad that I was able to photograph the nuthatches again yesterday. I had planned on sharing only one image of them today but I liked these two so much I figured why not post them both.<\/p>\n

I also saw some Brown Creepers but I wasn’t able to obtain a single decent image of that species, they stay so close to the trunks of trees that it was difficult to get a single clear shot of them.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The Red-breasted Nuthatches that I photographed foraging and hanging upside down yesterday weren’t calling, they seem to be quiet during that activity but I could hear other nuthatches in the trees all around me.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143909,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[27,3700,1316,358,26],"tags":[6879,6877,4040,6454,4927,4928,6878,3701,3702,2214],"class_list":["post-54963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-red-breasted-nuthatches","category-stansbury-mountains-utah","category-tooele-county","category-utah","tag-cones","tag-douglas-fir","tag-feeding","tag-hanging","tag-nuthatch","tag-nuthatches","tag-pseudotsuga-menziesii","tag-red-breasted-nuthatch","tag-sitta-canadensis","tag-upside-down"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/red-breasted-nuthatch-upside-down-mia-mcpherson-7320.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-eiv","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":74422,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/10\/06\/photographing-red-breasted-nuthatches-isnt-easy\/","url_meta":{"origin":54963,"position":0},"title":"Photographing Red-breasted Nuthatches Isn’t Easy","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Red-breasted Nuthatches aren't easy to photograph because they are tiny, they move quickly and their flight patterns are fairly unpredictable. Finding the right habitat, their habitat, can make it fun.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch on a Douglas Fir bough, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4059.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4059.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-west-desert-mia-mcpherson-4059.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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In A Douglas Fir","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"For a few seconds yesterday morning I was thrilled to have a Red-breasted Nuthatch foraging on a Douglas Fir cone in my viewfinder directly in front of me.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch hanging onto a Douglas Fir cone, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-6994.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-mia-mcpherson-6994.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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"Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch high up in a fir, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-mia-mcpherson-6821.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 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Crop Of Douglas Fir Seeds Because Of Our Drought","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 24, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"My trip out into the sky island mountains of the West Desert last week caused my concerns about this years crop of Douglas Fir seeds to grow.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Red-breasted Nuthatch checking out a Douglas Fir cone in autumn, West Desert, Tooele County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-cone-mia-mpherson-9635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/red-breasted-nuthatch-douglas-fir-cone-mia-mpherson-9635.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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