Eurasian Nuthatches plaster mud around their nest cavity entrance to size it down — a technique that excludes larger competitors.
They cache thousands of seeds in autumn, jamming each one into a bark crevice for retrieval through winter.
Like all nuthatches, they walk down tree trunks head-first, an unusual ability among songbirds.
Eurasian Nuthatches use nest boxes readily where mature trees are present. They're confident feeder visitors.
Sunflower hearts, peanuts, suet, and shelled walnuts. They cache aggressively from any feeder.
Mount a 32mm hole box 3–6 m up on the trunk of a mature tree.
Mature deciduous trees with rough bark — oaks especially — give them caching surfaces.
Great Tits can take over Nuthatch boxes; the Nuthatch will mud-plaster the entrance to keep them out.
Don't site in young plantation; they need old-growth structure.
A widespread Eurasian nuthatch from Britain east through Russia to Japan.
Common resident throughout the British Isles (recent colonist there), continental Europe south to the Mediterranean.
Resident through Scandinavia and into Russia.
Resident populations in China, Korea, and Japan.
Mature deciduous and mixed woodland with old trees. Mature parks and gardens with sizable trees attract them readily.
Plasters the entrance with mud to fit its preferred hole size — leave the mud collar in place when cleaning.