Working out puzzles

Pygmy nuthatch. ©Teresa Shumaker.

Sometimes, what a bird isn't is just as important as what it is when trying to identify the species. As a beginner birder, and not a California native, there are many common species that can leave me scratching my head in confusion when trying to identify them.

This pygmy nuthatch did just that. As I was sipping on my coffee and watching the chestnut-backed chickadees hop around the pine trees in my backyard the other morning, a large flock of nuthatches descended upon the forest.

A pygmy nuthatch searching for seeds in the pine cone. They stick their needle-like beak in the cracks to dislodge the seed. ©Teresa Shumaker. 

At first, I thought they were another type of chickadee. They were about the same size, engaging in similar behaviors, and the calls sounded similar.

Well, first thing that gave me a clue they weren't chickadees was the lack of a black beard, or throat patch. Once I got closer, I discovered that the chickadee call I was hearing was coming from some chickadees deeper in the trees, behind the nuthatches, leading me to believe the sound was coming from the nuthatch instead.

After looking through my National Geographic bird field guide, I learned some neat things about these interesting birds.
Whether they are going up or down a tree, they go head first. To survive the winter, they roost at night in a hole in a tree, huddling up next to each other — sometimes up to 100 at a time. (Which gave me the mental image of a big feathered bird pile, with many little bird faces sticking out of the opening.)

As I watched this group, the individuals seemed to have a familiarity with each other. I noticed two types of foragers right of the bat; explorers and followers. The explorers would land on a tree and begin foraging, and the follower would land almost on top of the previous bird and start doing exactly what he or she was doing. The first bird, getting almost elbowed out of its chosen site would move on. Seconds later the follower bird would do just that — follow the first guy. From branch to branch, the process was repeated with many pairs of followers and explorers.

It was hard not to anthropomorphize and project possible emotions, as the explorer birds appeared to get rather annoyed with the mimics, sometimes starting a squabble amongst them.

But then again, nobody likes a copycat. The annoyance could be universal.

Hanging out. An explorer on the left, follower on the right.  ©Teresa Shumaker.