BirdBrain Academy

Nuthatches · Sittidae

Red-breasted Nuthatch sounds

Sitta canadensis

The Red-breasted Nuthatch is a small songbird of coniferous forests, blue-grey above with cinnamon underparts and a nasal, trumpetlike call.

Learn bird sounds freeMore Red-breasted Nuthatch recordings
Red-breasted Nuthatch
Photo: Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Listen to the Red-breasted Nuthatch

Each recording below is a short excerpt with its spectrogram, a picture of the sound. Time runs left to right and higher pitches sit higher up. Play each one, then look for the same shape in the next. Different recordings of the same bird help you learn the bird, not one clip.

Call · recording 1 Spectrogram of a Red-breasted Nuthatch call: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Doug Hynes, Whitbourne, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2011-03-11. XC935612 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five-second excerpt.

Call, Song · recording 2 Spectrogram of a Red-breasted Nuthatch call, song: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Doug Hynes, Whitbourne, Newfoundland and Labrador, 2011-03-09. XC935601 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 4.0. Five-second excerpt.

Call · recording 3 Spectrogram of a Red-breasted Nuthatch call: time runs left to right and pitch rises upward

Recorded by Jonathon Jongsma, Blue Bell Campground, Custer State Park, South Dakota, 2012-06-19. XC104516 on xeno-canto, CC BY-SA 3.0. Five-second excerpt.

What to listen for

Its call is high-pitched, nasal, and weak, likened to a toy tin horn or a child's noisemaker. Its song is a slowly repeated series of clear, nasal, rising notes.

Many listeners write its call as “yenk”. Treat a written sound as a memory aid; individual birds and regions vary.

What it looks like

The Red-breasted Nuthatch is a small passerine, 4.5 inches long, with bluish back and uppertail, rust-colored underparts, a black cap and eye line, and a white eyebrow. Males are brighter orange below, while females and youngsters have duller heads and paler underparts.

Where to find it

It lives mainly as a full-time resident of northern and subalpine conifer forests, though it regularly irrupts southward when conditions change. It moves acrobatically up and down trunks and branches, often descending headfirst, foraging alone or in pairs.

BirdBrain regions that include this bird

  • Alaska
  • California
  • Eastern Canada
  • Florida
  • Great Lakes
  • Mexico
  • Mid-Atlantic
  • New England
  • Northwest
  • Plains
  • Rocky Mountains
  • Southeast
  • Southwest
  • Texas
  • Western Canada
  • Western Europe

Did you know?

  • It can walk on the underside of branches while foraging.
  • It wedges food into bark crevices and breaks it apart with its bill.
  • Its habit of wedging and hammering seeds gave rise to the name nuthatch.

Learn the Red-breasted Nuthatch by ear

BirdBrain Academy teaches bird sounds with side-by-side listening and quizzes that use different recordings, so you learn the bird rather than one clip. Start with six free lessons, no signup needed. On your phone, Sound ID can name the birds singing around you.

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Related birds

Species notes are adapted from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and checked for BirdBrain. Recordings come from xeno-canto under the licenses shown with each one. Photo: Cephas, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Identification guidance is educational; birds vary, so confirm unusual sightings with local experts or eBird.