“The things that make me different are the things that make me.” - A.A. Milne, Winnie the Pooh
Birds like the woodpecker or the treecreeper are almost always seen in an upright position foraging for insects in the crevices in the bark of trees. Nuthatches on the other hand are birds that are equally adept at climbing up or down the bark of trees and therefore are often seen in an upside down position.
Nuthatches store seeds in the bark of trees. Caching seeds so they can be seen going down the tree may keep them safe from other birds going up the tree. Their habit of wedging a large food item in a crevice and then hacking at it with their strong bills gives this group its English name.
The Chestnut-bellied nuthatch is found in subtropical or tropical forests and in montane forests of the Himalayas in the India, Nepal and Bhutan. They nest in abandoned cavities of woodpeckers.
Chestnut-bellied nuthatch
(Sitta cinnamoventris)
Sony A77II
Tamron 150-600
f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO3200, 500mm
Kedarnath WLS, Chopta, (India)
May 2019