Identification: Nuthatches are quite unmistakable with their short-tailed, big-headed, fat-bellied shape, even if you don't see the blue-grey back, orangey underparts and long black eyestripe.
Habitat: Breeds and winters in mature woodlands, parks and gardens.
Distribution: A fairly common resident of mature deciduous woodlands throughout most of England and Wales, where the right habitat occurs. More local in northern England and absent in Scotland
Widespread and numerous in most of Europe except much of Scandinavia.
Population: 130 000 territories are estimated in Britain, confined mainly to England and Wales with none in Ireland.
6-8 million breeding pairs across Europe reaching a northerly limit in southern Scandinavia. |