Pygmy Nuthatch, Sitta pygmaea



Pygmy Nuthatch


Pygmy Nuthatch


Pygmy Nuthatch

The pictures below come from the large dead tree near the parking lot at Donner Camp on Alder Creek, a few miles north of Lake Tahoe and Truckee on California Route 89. The tree is marked with a sign commemorating the Donner party, some of whom died nearby in the winter of 1846-47. In the summers of 2008 and 2009, a pair of Pygmy Nuthatches nested in a hole in this snag.
 


Pygmy Nuthatch
One of the adults emerging from the nest.


Pygmy Nuthatches
Two of the nestlings look out of the nest when they hear an adult's call, signaling approach.


Pygmy Nuthatches
One of the adults feeds an insect to a nestling.


Pygmy Nuthatch
Nestlings defecate in neatly sealed sacs, greatly facilitating maintenance of nest hygiene. This was the only time I'd ever seen a fecal sac actually passed from a nestling of any species to an adult.