Nature Note #187: Devil Down Head

I love old nicknames for birds. Whether they are folk names, sportsmans colloquialisms, or even names from other languages, learning how other groups of people identify certain animals and plants is always an interesting journey through the history of human culture and wildlife identification. The title of this post refers to an old folk name for a common yard and feeder bird, the nuthatch.

Here in the northeast, we have two species of nuthatches; the white-breasted (Sitta carolinensis) and the red-breasted (S. canadensis).

White-breasted nuthatch

Red-breasted nuthatch

Both species are perhaps best known for their tree-scaling ability that would make any free climber jealous of their skills. Many ornithologists have been equally amazed by the skills of the nuthatch. The economic ornithologist, Edward Howe Forbush noted in his Birds of Massachusetts that:

"They seem to have taken lessons of the squirrel which runs down the tree headfirst, 

stretching out his hind feet backward and so clinging to the bark with his claws as he goes down;

but the nuthatch having only two feet has to reach forward under its breast with one 

and back beside its tail with the other, and thus, standing on a wide base and holding

safely to the back with the three fore claws of the upper foot turned backward it hitches

nimbly down the tree head first - something that other birds hardly attempt -

and it runs around the trunk in the same way with feet wide apart."

The name "devil down head" refers to their daredevil tendency to run headlong down the bark of a tree looking for insects in the warm summer months and prying apart seeds in the fall and winter. In fact, their name originates from an Old English term for using a hatchet to hack or "hatch" away at a piece of wood. They display this behavior best when they are storing seeds in the cracks and crevices on trees, posts, and other small spaces in their environment. 

When I took these photos, I was watching the feeders at Beaver Lake Nature Center in Baldwinsville, NY and was happy to capture this very behavior on film. A red-breasted nuthatch was grabbing sunflower seeds from one of the open fronted feeders and flying off to a nearby branch and packing them into a small crack before returning for more. 

It's always wonderful being able to witness these busy little birds out in the woods. Another ornithologist by the name of George Gladden wrote in T. Gilbert Pearson's Birds of America of their friendliness when out for a walk in the woods;

"One of the Nuthatch's most engaging qualities is his friendly curiosity. Stand or sit motionless

near the base of a tree in which the bird is working, and he is almost certain to come

hithering down the trunk, head foremost, to gaze squarely into your face with his beady little

black eyes and inquire politely as to your health and whether all is as it should be with you.

If you inform him quietly that you are very well and quite content with your lot (being careful

meanwhile to make no movement of any kind), he will express satisfaction, courteously apologize

for being so tremendously busy, and whisk away to the next tree."

We're lucky to have them indeed.

White-breasted nuthatch with American goldfinch