Red-breasted nuthatch
Sitta canadensis Linnaeus, 1766
The red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) is a species in the family Sittidae, order Passeriformes. Recorded adults weigh 9.8 g to 11 g and live up to 7.5 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Least Concern.
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Quick facts about the red-breasted nuthatch
- Weight
- 9.8 g – 11 gsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 7.5 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Omnivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- forestsrc for Habitat
- Egg incubation
- 12 dayssrc for Egg incubation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 5.5src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 12 monthssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1src for Litters or clutches a year
- Lifestyle
- Perchingsrc for Lifestyle
- Migration
- Migratorysrc for Migration
- Conservation status
- Least Concern (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Where does the red-breasted nuthatch live?
Not recorded
What is the red-breasted nuthatch?
The red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) is a small songbird. The adult has blue-grey upperparts with cinnamon underparts, a white throat and face with a black stripe through the eyes, a straight grey bill and a black crown. Its call, which has been likened to a tin trumpet, is high-pitched and nasal. It breeds in coniferous forests across Canada, Alaska and the northeastern and western United States. Though often a permanent resident, it regularly irrupts further south if its food supply fails. There are records of vagrants occurring as far south as the Gulf Coast and northern Mexico. It forages on the trunks and large branches of trees, often descending head first, sometimes catching insects in flight. It eats mainly insects and seeds, especially from conifers. It excavates its nest in dead wood, often close to the ground, smearing the entrance with pitch.
From the Wikipedia article “Red-breasted nuthatch” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Red-breasted_nuthatch&oldid=1357464341), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the red-breasted nuthatch endangered?
The red-breasted nuthatch is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List: it is not currently at risk of extinction.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Least Concern species.
How is the red-breasted nuthatch classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classAves
- orderPasseriformes
- familySittidae
- genusSitta
- SpeciesSitta canadensis Linnaeus, 1766
Synonyms Sitta canadensis clariterga, Sitta varia
Other names and names in other languages (54)
- كاسر الجوز أحمر الصدرArabic
- Червеногръда зидаркаBulgarian
- Pokerig-KanadaBreton
- pica-soques del CanadàCatalan
- brhlík americkýCzech
- delor cnau brongochWelsh
- Amerikansk SpætmejseDanish
- KanadakleiberGerman
- Kanada-KleiberGerman
- RotbrustkleiberGerman
- Καναδέζικος ΤσοπανάκοςGreek
- Kanada sitoEsperanto
- rufbrusta sitoEsperanto
- Sita canadienseSpanish
- Bajapalos Pecho CanelaSpanish
- Trepador canadienseSpanish
- valgekulm-puukoristajaEstonian
- valkokulmanakkeliFinnish
- Sittelle à poitrine rousseFrench
- Scoltan cleeau-yiargScottish Gaelic
- סיטה קנדיתHebrew
- kanadski brgljezCroatian
- kanadai csuszkaHungarian
- BandigðaIcelandic
- Picchio muratore pettofulvoItalian
- ムネアカゴジュウカラJapanese
- ムネアカゴジュウガラJapanese
- КъэбцӀацӀэцӀыкӀуKabardian
- 캐나다동고비Korean
- 붉은가슴동고비Korean
- kanadinis bukutisLithuanian
- Kanādas dzilnītisLatvian
- NákʼeʼnáʼijiníNavajo
- ZwartkopboomkleverDutch
- Canadese BoomkleverDutch
- rustspettmeisNorwegian
- kowalik czarnogłowyPolish
- trepadeira-ruivaPortuguese
- Trepadeira-azul do CanadáPortuguese
- Trepadeira-azul-do-canadáPortuguese
- trepadeira-de-peito-ruivoPortuguese
- Канадский поползеньRussian
- Канадский красногрудый поползеньRussian
- KanádačáihnegaccetNorthern Sami
- brhlík čiernohlavýSlovak
- kanadski brglezSlovenian
- Crvenogrudi američki brgljezSerbian
- rödbröstad nötväckaSwedish
- Kanada SıvacısıTurkish
- Kırmızı göğüslü sıvacı kuşuTurkish
- повзик канадськийUkrainian
- Повзик червоногрудийUkrainian
- 紅胸鳾Chinese
- 红胸䴓Chinese
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the red-breasted nuthatch
Other species in the same genus Sitta.
Eurasian nuthatch
Sitta europaea
Western rock nuthatch
Sitta neumayer
Velvet-fronted nuthatch
Sitta frontalis
Eastern rock nuthatch
Sitta tephronota
Corsican nuthatch
Sitta whiteheadi
White-breasted nuthatch
Sitta carolinensis
CompareRed-breasted nuthatch vs Eurasian nuthatchRed-breasted nuthatch vs Western rock nuthatchRed-breasted nuthatch vs Velvet-fronted nuthatchRed-breasted nuthatch vs Eastern rock nuthatch
Common questions
Answered only where our data holds the answer.
How big is the red-breasted nuthatch?
An adult red-breasted nuthatch weighs 9.8 g – 11 g, according to values recorded on Wikidata.
Is the red-breasted nuthatch endangered?
The red-breasted nuthatch is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, meaning it is not currently at risk of extinction.
How long does the red-breasted nuthatch live?
The red-breasted nuthatch has a recorded lifespan of 7.5 years.
What kind of animal is the red-breasted nuthatch?
The red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) belongs to the family Sittidae in the order Passeriformes.
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds · CC BY 4.0 · v7
Tobias, J.A. et al. (2022) AVONET: morphological, ecological and geographical data for all birds. Ecology Letters 25: 581–597. https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.13898. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.16586228.v7 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-breasted-nuthatch
“Red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-breasted-nuthatch.
@misc{red_breasted_nuthatch_2026,
title = {Red-breasted nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/red-breasted-nuthatch},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}