White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)
With a length of 6 inches, this resident of the United States, southern
Canada and Mexico might readily be mistaken by a casual observed
for a small woodpecker. But its call--an oft-repeated "yak"--is very
unwoodpecker-like. Also unlike either woodpeckers or creepers, it
climbs downward head first as easily as upward, seeming to defy the
laws of gravity.
"Nuthatch" was suggested by its habit of wedging nuts in crevices of
bark so as to break them open by blows from a sharp, strong bill.
The white-breast gets its living from the trunks and branches of trees,
over which it walks from daylight to dark. Insects and spiders
constitute about half of its food. More than half of its vegetable food
consists of acorns and other nuts or large seeds. It's a bird of the
wooded suburbs, and will feed at sheltered stations offering suet,
sunflower seeds, or nuts.