Birds of the Upper Cumberland Region: Species Accounts

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

Red-breasted Nuthatch [dorsal view of adult at entrance to nest cavity]. Photograph Credit: Stephen J. Stedman; Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Scott County, Tennessee; 8 June 2003.

Abundance: Variable; varies considerably in population number from winter to winter, often being absent or nearly so and when present usually being Rare to Uncommon; during major irruption winters (occurring irregularly once or twice per decade, most recently during the winter of 2012–2013—LINK to Regional CBC data) may become Fairly Common (see also High Count below); Occasional during summer at favored sites (see also Habitat below) but difficult to detect at that season; recorded in 24 Regional counties (Map of UCR Distribution); data from the Regional bird-monitoring efforts are too few to determine a trend in the populations permanently residing, wintering, or breeding in the Region (see also Regional Bird-Monitoring Plan).

Status: Winter Resident; since a small breeding population has been verified in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Scott County, Tennessee (Renfrow and Stedman 2003; see also Breeding below) and since breeding season records exist for two adjacent counties, a small portion of the Regional population should be considered Summer Resident or possibly Permanent Resident; designated as an endangered breeding species by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission (2004); photograph (see above).

Regional High Count 33 (27 November 1999; McCreary County, Kentucky; Stephen J. Stedman; Busroe 2000a); CBC/CBB High Count: 25 (22 December 1999; Clay and Overton counties, Tennessee [Clay County CBC]; m. ob.; Welsh 2000a).

Regional Extreme Dates: 

    Early Fall: 13 August 1999 (1; Putnam County, Tennessee; Richard W. Simmers, Jr.; Fekel 2000), but see also Breeding (below).

    Late Spring: 11 May 1998 (1; Putnam County, Tennessee; Richard W. Simmers, Jr., unpubl. data), but see also Breeding (below).

    Note: the site where the extreme dates were obtained may well be verified as a breeding site in the future (see also Breeding below).  Regional dates of earliest reported fall arrival and latest reported spring departure for winters from 2001–2002 to 2010–2011 follow (for records from counties where no breeding population has been confirmed or suspected):

YardWatch Results 2003 and 2004: Registered on 3 (of 125 possible) monthly check-lists during 2003 and on 14 (of 206 possible) check-lists during 2004, reflecting the scarcity and variability characteristic of this nuthatch's presence in the Region.

Breeding: Confirmed (Recent). Details about the first Regional nest record in the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Scott County, Tennessee, during May–June 2003 were provided by Renfrow and Stedman (2003); several Red-breasted Nuthatches were also found near this site during June 2005 (Frank Renfrow unpubl. data).  A single bird noted near Meadow Creek in eastern Putnam County, Tennessee, 11 July 2001 (Richard W. Simmers, Jr.) at an elevation of c. 575 m [c. 1900 ft] suggested the possibility of nesting at that locality also, especially since this site contains a component of white pine (Pinus strobus) and since both the Regional late spring departure date and the Regional early fall arrival date were also obtained there.  A female found near the end of the Point Trail near Lilly Bluff, Obed Wild and Scenic River, Morgan County, Tennessee, 4 & 10 June 2006 (Barbara H. Stedman unpubl. data) suggested local breeding (and fulfilled a prediction made by F. Renfrow a year earlier that Red-breasts might be found in the Obed Wild and Scenic River during the breeding season), as did a calling bird at the Sawmill Trailhead, Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area, Pickett County, Tennessee, 14 June 2006 (Stephen J. Stedman unpubl. data).

    Any Regional sites situated at an elevation of > 425 m [1400 ft] and possessing a mature white pine forest might sustain a small breeding population of these reclusive nuthatches.

Habitat: In all seasons, usually associated with coniferous forest or with mixed forest containing a large fraction of evergreens.  Nesting critically linked to old-growth white pine forest at the only verified breeding site in the Region and at the closest nearby, low-elevation Southeastern breeding sites—the Red River Gorge in Kentucky, the Chattooga River in Georgia and South Carolina, and the lower elevations of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee (Renfrow and Stedman 2003).

Remarks: The magnitude of irruption events is tied closely to the quality of the food crop—especially pine cone seeds—on which this nuthatch is dependent in the Canadian forests where most of the continental population breeds; weather during fall and winter seems not to have much effect on the timing or magnitude of irruption events, but weather during spring and summer undoubtedly plays a powerful role in determining the quality of the nuthatch's winter food crop in the  boreal forests and thus indirectly in determining the timing and magnitude of irruption events.

Check-lists of Birds for the Counties of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of each county of the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed by clicking on the links below. For each county, there are two check-lists: one list that shows the species that have been observed and where possible documented in the county within the larger list for the entire Region; and one list that includes only the species observed in the county with annotations for the date and observers for at least one sighting (the ultimate goal of the latter list will be to include annotations for the very first known Regional observation of each species in that county; this goal is probably one that will take many years to complete, if completion is even a possibility). To see if the species discussed in this species account has been observed in a county, click below or click on the link for the Map of UCR Distribution near the top of the page.

Check-lists of Birds for Some Public Access Birding Sites of the UCR

Check-lists of the birds of some public access birding sites within the Upper Cumberland Region may be viewed via the links below. To see if the species dealt with in this species account has been observed within any of these sites, click on the appropriate link below. See the pages for each county within the Gazetteer for links to additional smaller public access birding sites with check-lists in progress.

Map of UCR Distribution

Literature Cited