Re: Pygmy nuthatch?

[Psbmt@aol.com]

Lucille and All,
    What your cat killed was more likely a juvenile Brown-headed Nuthatch.  
I, too, had at least one at my feeders this summer, and looked them up in the 
same 2 field guides and thought hmmm....  then, nah, no way.  I had to read 
futher in other non-field guide bird books, and ask my friend Jill F., who 
has the P. Pyle book that banders use, to find out that the juvenile 
Brown-headed has a grayer cap, more like the Pygmy's.
    I don't understand why the guides don't show the juvenile plumage of this 
bird, or at least mention it, to avoid confusion.  The books did say that 
this plumage is only kept for about three weeks.
    On another note, I'm sure you know that outdoor cats kill many birds as 
well as other wildlife.  It's really safer for them to be kept indoors, and 
much safer for the birds, many of which are are having a hard enough time as 
it is because of habitat destruction and fragmentation, cowbirds parasitizing 
their nests, man-made hazards during migration...... that one of the easiest 
things we can do to help them survive is to keep our cats indoors.  I have 
three older cats that never go outside, and haven't for the last 10 years.  
They are perfectly content looking out a window or sleeping on the screened 
porch.  And once in a while, if a bird notices them on the porch, I get to 
see a tree full of birds as they all come in closer to investigate.  I've had 
both Tanagers, Hooded Warblers, Blue-headed Vireos, Wood Thrush, Ovenbird, 
and numerous others all at the same time!

Shelley Theye

N. Chatham County
Psbmt@aol.com