A constant chatter of high-pitched staccato tidi tidi tidi or tideet tideet calls coming from the canopy of ponderosa pine forests east of the Cascade Range is a sure sign of the presence of this tiny, highly active, social nuthatch.

Measuring only 3.75-4 inches long, this stubby mite is the smallest and plainest of the three western U.S. nuthatches. This is a tree-bark clinger that has a woodpecker-like bill for probing bark, opening seeds, and cavity excavation. The Pygmy nuthatch forages all the tree surfaces from the trunks to the outer- and top-most needles and cones.

The Pygmy nuthatch is a resident of ponderosa pine-dominated forests from the east slopes of the Cascades eastward into the Blue and Warner mountains.

Hear the call of the Pygmy nuthatch

Photo by ©Keith Kohl, ODFW