White-breasted Nuthatch

From Necedah National Wildlife Refuge:

#USFWS

Is a nuthatch a woodpecker? Let’s look at its feet! Three toes forward, one backwards. Woodpeckers however, have two toes forward and two toes backward. Nuthatches belong to the order Passeriformes (perching birds) compared to woodpeckers in the Piciformes order (true tree trunk birds and largely insectivores). Tricky because they both spend time on tree trunks and both eat insects! 

Photo: White-breasted Nuthatch courtesy of Isaac Sanchez/ Creative Commons https://flic.kr/p/rFPi9r




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