The Nuthatch is
fairly easily catered for in captivity and with the correct
environment they can be encouraged to breed with a fair amount of
success.
The aviary
doesn’t have to be on the large scale, mine have reared in a very
modest 6x6x3ft. The enclosure should
be lined with any off cuts from trunks from any of the trees with a
decent dept of bark on them. Pine is very good. The inside of the
roof can also be lined with bark this will enable the birds to show
off some of there many talents of hanging upside down. It will also
be a good place for the inhabitants to roost on top of the boards
and just under the roof.
A word of warning
nuthatches are great hoarders of food and will bury anything from
nuts, pips and all sorts of seeds whether amongst the crevices in
the bark or in the floor or gaps in the frame work of the
aviary. This hiding of food
can encourage the bird keeper’s enemy, the mouse into the
aviary.
You may replenish
the food supply one day and the next it will be empty; this is
because the nuthatches have hidden it all amongst the bark in the
enclosure.
The feeding is
very simple, mine are fed mostly on sunflower (whole and the larger
the better) most cereal seeds. Large Russian pine
nuts are also a favourite, It is a pleasure to watch these get
placed into the crevices and then get broken open by the power of
their bills. Peanuts are another food. Any basic
insectivorous mix can be used as the main diet. Apples and pears are
relished especially when they are getting near the
pips. Live food is fed
weekly during the winter months then increased gradually to daily
nearer the springtime. Small mealworms are a
good starter along with Wax worms which are fed when young are
about a week old, also if the birds will take crickets of various
sizes these will all add to the variety of live food available,
mine are used to frozen crickets which does save on any
escapees.
When you have your
pair they are best placed together in the breeding enclosure as
earliest as possible. A good guide is after the autumn, when they
have accepted each other try not move or split them up unless it
looks as though they may be losses. They are a bird which
should be kept on their own as they could do damages to another
bird with their powerful bill.
During the
breeding season the male bird becomes very vocal calling to alert
his mate to his territory, he can become very entertaining as he
dances to her showing her the nest boxes and offering an insect of
his choice to her. The hen will start to
show signs of nesting on the first warm days of February or March
by cleaning out the box of any leaves or rotten wood. The hen will start to
plaster mud around the nest box entrance and any areas inside the
box which lets in any light.
Material can vary
from leaves to pieces of wood chipping and flakes of
bark.
The clutch size
is 5-8 with incubation lasting 15/16days. If the hen leaves
the nest without being disturbed she will attempt to hide the
eggs/chicks with nesting material.
Young nuthatches
develop more slowly than other passerines of their size.
Feather quills beneath the skin start to appear on the
3rd day, eyes open on the 9th day, along with
the flight feathers appearing. Fledging takes place from
around 21 to 24 days. After 8-10 days from leaving the nest
they start to become self supporting. At around 40 days old
the youngsters seem to go scatty and act wild for no apparent
reason, I have since found out this is a natural restless period
which can last up to 2 weeks and is apparently associated with
their dispersal from the breeding area they would have in the
wild.
Some of the young
can be sexed from around 2 weeks old by the darker chestnut
colour underneath the tail and around the vent area. The male birds
are more richly coloured than the females. As they moult out the
male will take the same rich colour down the flanks and along the
side of its body
All in all a
fairly easy bird to cater for with food and accommodation, quite
easily sexed and not too fussy to feed, it also tends to live to
about 5-8 years or longer. A very entertaining addition to
any aviary and certainly a tough little
Nutter.
