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Bird of the Month Red-breasted Nuthatches are small, compact birds with long, pointed bills, short tails, and almost no neck. They are blue-gray above with strongly patterned heads and rusty red underparts. Red-breasted Nuthatches move quickly over trunks and branches probing the bark for food in crevices and under flakes in the bark. They creep up, down, and sideways without regard for which way is up looking for yummy insects and other arthropods. When moving downward they typically zigzag, keeping their grip with the large claw on their one backward- pointing toe on each foot. Red-breasted Nuthatches nest in cavities of dead trees or dead parts of live trees. Their typical song is a series of nasal, hornlike notes that sound like yank-yank. Red-breasted Nuthatches breed (summer) in coniferous forests throughout the mountain west and across southern Canada, where they use more deciduous forests in the east. In winter, part of the population moves south across the entire U.S. and to lower elevations in the west, where they use habitats such as orchards, scrub, and parks. The Red-breasted Nuthatch that Genie and Bill Cooper sighted on Trail B on Nov. 3 was one of these elevation migrants and may spend the winter with us. Birding CLUB On Oct. 17, Gerrie Karczynski visited the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park, where the highlight of her day occurred in the restroom when a Greater Roadrunner came in to powder its nose! On Oct. 24, John Hansen got a nice photo of a Bewick's Wren in his backyard. November started off with a bang: two Four Seasons first records! On Nov. 2, I found a flock of Savannah Sparrows in the big retention basin on the south side of The Courts along Trail D. The next day, Genie and Bill Cooper got good looks at a Red-breasted Nuthatch on Trail B (Bird of the Month). These sightings bring our Four Seasons bird species total to 103! Winter is the time of year to set up bird feeders to attract birds to your yard and help them through the winter. The Club had an emailed discussion of the types of feeders, the species each type attracts, and the problems with rats and other pests at feeders. The Club reminds everyone at Four Seasons to NOT use rat poisons, which can kill Great Horned Owls and other predators that eat the poisoned rodents. If you'd like to see the Club's bird feeder discussion, email steve.h.edelman@gmail. com. ~ Steve Edelman FOUR SEASONS BREEZE | DECEMBER 2020 39 Check with your club contact to confirm meeting place, date, and time. Above: Greater Roadrunner in the little girl's room of the San Diego Zoo's Safari Park. Photo by Club member Gerrie Karczynski Left: Bewick's Wren. Photo by Club member John Hansen Red-breasted Nuthatch. Photo by Fortera

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