What is "red-breasted nuthatch"

Nuthatch \Nut"hatch`\, n. [OE. nuthake. See 2d Hack.] (Zo["o]l.) Any one of several species of birds of the genus Sitta, as the European species ( Sitta Europ[ae]a). The white-breasted nuthatch ( Sitta Carolinensis), the red-breasted nuthatch ( Sitta Canadensis), the pygmy nuthatch ( Sitta pygm[ae]a), and others, are American.

n. bluish-gray nuthatch with reddish breast; of northern coniferous forests [syn: Sitta canadensis]

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.