{"id":57133,"date":"2019-04-07T05:34:49","date_gmt":"2019-04-07T11:34:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=57133"},"modified":"2025-08-15T06:24:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T11:24:55","slug":"upside-down-red-breasted-nuthatch-in-a-fir-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/04\/07\/upside-down-red-breasted-nuthatch-in-a-fir-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Upside Down Red-breasted Nuthatch In A Fir Tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch giving me the eye \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 800, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

While trying to get up into the mountains of the West Desert the other day I heard a call that excited me, it was the call of a single Red-breasted Nuthatch.<\/p>\n

I love to hear them but I love to photograph them even more so it was frustrating that I couldn’t see the nuthatch and that I couldn’t get to a spot where I had hoped to see more of them because of slippery, sloppy, muddy roads.<\/p>\n

I’ve found that in order to photograph Red-breasted Nuthatches away from man made feeders in the wild you first need to locate them and then you need to have buckets of patience while waiting for them to come into view.<\/p>\n

If you don’t have the patience to sit and wait you will miss out on great opportunities with this species. I’ve also learned that the moment you decide to move on to another location is when they will most likely show up.<\/p>\n

The song of a Red-breasted Nuthatch can be heard here<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Red-breastedRed-breasted Nuthatch at the edge of a mountain forest \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/500, ISO 800, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Because the nuthatches feed in trees finding a location that will get nice light on the birds can be a challenge and because they normally feed upside down under branches it can be even harder because the underside of branches are often in the shade.<\/p>\n

Not only are they a challenge to photograph because of light they move a lot and they move quickly which increases the difficulty of getting sharp photos.<\/p>\n

Despite the challenges I am enchanted by these small forest birds, their calls and songs, their habit of hanging upside down to feed and their striking plumage patterns.<\/p>\n

All I want now is a few warm, sunny days to help dry up the dirt roads so I can get back into the high country to look for Red-breasted Nuthatches again.<\/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 about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While trying to get up into the mountains of the West Desert the other day I heard a call that excited me, it was the call of a single Red-breasted Nuthatch. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":152293,"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":[27,3700,358,26,1314],"tags":[6879,6877,4040,6454,4069,4927,4928,6878,3701,3702,2214],"class_list":["post-57133","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-red-breasted-nuthatches","category-tooele-county","category-utah","category-west-desert-utah","tag-cones","tag-douglas-fir","tag-feeding","tag-hanging","tag-mountains","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\/08\/red-breasted-nuthatch-mountains-mia-mcpherson-7308.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-eRv","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":57133,"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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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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