Pygmy
Nuthatch, Sitta pygmaea
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![]() 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. |
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![]() One of the adults emerging from the nest. |
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![]() Two of the nestlings look out of the nest when they hear an adult's call, signaling approach. |
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![]() One of the adults feeds an insect to a nestling. |
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![]() 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. |