Last week Shara stayed home sick from work one day. While home, she heard a big thump on one of the windows at the back of our house. A thump like that usually means that a bird has flown into one of the windows. She grabbed her camera and went outside expecting to find a dead bird - unfortunately many birds are killed by the impact of flying into a window.
Instead, she found a very dazed, but still alive White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis).
This nuthatch appears to be a female, based on the frosted black cap - males have a dark black cap. Another interesting feature that you don't always notice is the patch chestnut colored feathers on its belly and flank. An adult White-breasted Nuthatch measures about 5 - 5.5 inches (13 - 14 cm) from beak to tail, with a an 8 - 10.5 inch (20 -27 cm) wingspan. They weigh between 0.6 and 1.1 ounces (18 - 30 grams) or about as much as 3 to 5 quarters.
Glad she was ok. Must have been kind of neat to hold one. I always see them on our feeders,--they're quite tame, but they don't want to be held.....
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