WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCHES

Last few days there have been some White-breasted Nuthatches on the feeders. They seem to come and go--sometimes I won't see them for days or weeks.

I like having them around because they're fun to watch. Nuthatches seldom sit still, flitting from one place to another they're a perpetual motion machine. They're on the feeder one second, grabbing a seed--often upside down. Then they flit to the maple tree to eat the seed they've just liberated. But they don't often go right back to the feeder. Usually they'll run around on the tree first, often upside down there, too.

Chickadees are still my favorites, both for their antics and for their tameness. When I fill feeders they won't fly away like other birds. They'll perch on a branch four or five feet above my head and chatter at me to hurry up and put the new food in so they can get busy on it. I'm sure I could train them to eat out of my hand, but I don't much feel like standing stock-still in the cold waiting for them to get used to me.

It would be kinda cool to train them, though. It freaks people out when they see Chickadees eating from someone's hand. Feels really weird, too, when they hop around on your palm and dig in with their tiny claws. If you didn't feel that you'd never know they were there because they're so light you cannot feel any weight in your hand. They literally are just a tiny bundle of fluff.