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White-breasted Nuthatches are gray-blue on the back, with a white face and underparts. The black or gray cap and neck frame the face and make it look like this bird is wearing a hood. White-breasted Nuthatches creep along trunks and large branches, probing into bark furrows with their straight, pointed bills. Like other nuthatches, they often turn sideways and upside down on vertical surfaces as they forage. They probe into bark crevices or chip away at wood to find nuts, seeds, and insects, which they often store under loose bark to enjoy later. White-breasted Nuthatches are resident across the U.S. and adjacent Canada and Mexico. They do not migrate but do move to lower elevations in winter, which is when birds breeding in our mountain forests move downslope where winter food is more plentiful. Because these birds need large trees, they are typically found in mature woods, particularly deciduous woods but also in coniferous forests. The White-breasted Nuthatch, observed during our Oct. 6 bird walk, was working the trunk and branches of a large Fremont Cottonwood. These birds are not common at Four Seasons, but now that we've seen one, I expect they'll be seen annually, always in winter. ~ Steve Edelman Birding CLUB Bird of the Month FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | NOVEMBER 2018 59 The Birding Club welcomes beginning and experienced birders to start or hone bird identification skills. Our main activity is a monthly bird walk along Four Seasons' nature trails, which follow native riparian woodlands. We keep a list of all species observed and take field trips to nearby birding hotspots. Our October bird walk was cold and foggy, perfect weather for newly arrived winter birds, which put on quite a show! We identified 23 species, second only to our June 2018 bird walk, including about 10 Mountain Chickadees, plenty of White-crowned Sparrows, and two each of Ruby-crowned Kinglets and Yellow-rumped Warblers, none of which have been seen since last winter. In winter, small birds leave their breeding territories to form mixed-species "feeding flocks" that wander together in search of food. On Trail B we had a wonderful feeding flock of about 10 Bushtits, five Mountain Chickadees, a late Black-throated Gray Warbler and — last but not least — a White-breasted Nuthatch, Four Seasons' first record (bird #82) spotted by Julie Shuttleworth, who is a beginner birder really honing her birding skills! We meet on the first Saturday of the month at 8 am at the Trail A trailhead (Lodge parking lot) then after the bird walk meet at the RCN lobby to review the morning's sightings. Email steve.h.edelman@gmail.com for current schedule and other information. ~ Steve Edelman Male House Finch (left) and female Hooded Oriole seen on Trail B our Sept. 1 bird walk. Photo taken by Dave Kettering, Birding Club member. White-breasted Nuthatch photographed on Trail B during our Oct. 6 bird walk. Note the chip of bark in its beak. Photo taken by Dave Kettering, Birding Club member.

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