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All About Birds

Brown-headed Nuthatch

Overview
ID Info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Brown-headed Nuthatch Sounds

Overview
ID info
Life History
Maps
Sounds

Calls (Southeast)
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Maryland, May 04, 1988Recorded by Gregory Budney | Macaulay Library
Calls (Southeast)
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Florida, April 21, 1992Recorded by Geoffrey A. Keller | Macaulay Library
Calls (Southeast)
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Louisiana, March 20, 1983Recorded by Ted Parker | Macaulay Library
Calls (Grand Bahama)
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Freeport and West Grand Bahama, July 26, 2011Recorded by Jeff Gerbracht | Macaulay Library

Sounds provided by Macaulay Library.
Listen to more sounds of this species from the ML archive.

Songs

Brown-headed Nuthatches don't sing complicated songs, but they are plenty vocal. They make tiny squeaks that sound like a toy rubber ducky being squeezed. These wheezy 2-syllable notes emanate from the treetops year-round. They repeat each squeak 1–12 times. Although not loud by themselves, other members of the group usually join in to amplify the sound.

Calls

In addition to the commonly heard rubber-ducky vocalization, Brown-headed Nuthatches also make a rapid series of high-pitched, jumbled notes, sometimes combined with the rubber-ducky vocalization. During foraging bouts, individuals also make soft single-noted calls—useful for finding groups of nuthatches.

Compare with Similar Species

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Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

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Species in This Family

Nuthatches(Order: Passeriformes, Family:Sittidae)

Red-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch

Brown-headed Nuthatch

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