Photography And Half-Thoughts By Mitchell Hegman

...because some of it is pretty and some of it is not.

Monday, July 13, 2020

Nuthatch

I have made my decision.  I want to be a nuthatch.

For one thing, nuthatches will join in with flocks of chickadees and do chickadee things.  I already enjoy watching chickadees.  I think I could hang out with them all day long.  And—who knows—I might enjoy doing chickadee things.

In their personal lives, nuthatches they are monogamous.  Good stuff, that.  Monogamy provides stability and consistency in life.  I could use some of that.       

Perhaps, more than anything, I would love to engage in some of a nuthatch’s quirky behaviors.  I want to walk around upside down on the bottom of tree branches and walk headfirst down the trunks of trees.  Not many birds can do this.  A nuthatch can.

A pair of nuthatches regularly visits my house.  The birds habitually walk up and down the stucco and brick walls of my exterior.  I have seen them join with the chickadees.  And I regularly watch them engage in another clever behavior: caching away “excess” food for future use.  I often witness them wedging seeds from my birdfeeder inside cracks in the bark of nearby trees or stuffing the seeds under pieces of metal trim on the exterior of my house.

I have posted a short video about nuthatches and their unique activities.



Mitchell Hegman

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnR2xZ9_Iuo 

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