Youngsters
get to know the young hero and the adventures
that carry him toward manhood. As they come to know Jeremiah as a friend who would
understand their own growing pains, they look forward to each book in the
series.
Teachers
will Achieve..
Teachers will appreciate the ways
that Jeremiah Stokely novels, kits, and activities make literature
meaningful to children. Teachers can download free classroom idea
packets to hold a hand-on workshop based on each book.
Click the >Play button
to listen to the bird's song!
(White-Breasted) Nuthatch
(Sitta carolinensis)
Length 5¾ in., wingspan 11 in., Family Sittidae
Nuthatches are unique in their ability to climb
trees head down while feeding on insects, larvae or eggs in the crevices
of bark. These birds climb using only their legs and claws. Unlike
woodpeckers, they do not use their tails as braces. Woodpeckers cannot
climb head down, so if you see a bird doing this, it is definitely a
nuthatch. Nuthatches even sleep head down!
There are four species:
Red-Breasted, White-Breasted, Brown-Headed, and Pygmy. The largest, the
White-Breasted Nuthatch, is found in most of the U.S. year-round. All
nuthatches have short, stubby tails and long upward-curved bills. The
White-Breasted is gray-blue above, bright white below. Its throat and
cheeks are white, its head shiny black. The female’s crown is dull black.
The White-Breasted Nuthatch
likes open woods with mature trees, preferably oak and pine. The only
place you’re not likely to find this bird is in a treeless area. Its calls
are soft nasal whistles or honks.
Besides insects, nuthatches
eat grain and nuts. “Nuthatch” comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “hnuta”
for “nut” and Old English “hacken” for “to break.” These birds
often wedge a nut into a crevice of a tree or fence post, then crack it
open with their powerful bills.
Nuthatches nest in natural
crevices or abandoned nest holes of other birds in tree trunks. If the
opening of a nest hole is too large to suit them, they build a mud rim
around it to make it smaller. They line the nest with bark, hair,
feathers, and grass. They sometimes rub the nest hole with crushed blister
beetles, held in their beaks, presumably to deter rodents from eating
their eggs.
