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Red-breasted Nuthatches like this one seem to live an extra-dimensional life. Nuthatches can scurry around a tree in any direction, including head-down.

These little birds get their name from their practice of wedging a seed into the bark of a tree and using their beaks to split (hatch) it open. I saw this female Red-breasted Nuthatch doing just that. She would get a seed from my friend’s bird feeder, then fly 20 feet to this tree. (Can you see the cracked black oil sunflower seed embedded in the bark of this tree? If not, scroll down for the answer.) This is kind of ingenious; it is definitely resourceful. A woodworker I admire, Paul Sellers, talks about the bench vise as being the woodworker’s “third hand.” For the nuthatch, the bark serves a similar function.

Location: Silverton, Oregon

Date: May 18, 2021

Exposure: 1/200 second, f/9, ISO 4000

Focal Length: 850 mm

Gear:

• Camera: Nikon D750

• Lens: Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary with a 1.4x teleconverter