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First Breeding Confirmation for Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) along the Big Bend Reach of the Platte River

Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis) is a highly nomadic species of North American nuthatch prone to large movements across the entire continent (Ghalambor and Martin 2020). This behavior has resulted in both a lack of geographic variation across the continent and propensity to colonize isolated patches of suitable habitat (Ghalambor and Martin 2020). In the Bessey District of the Nebraska National Forest (NNF), Red-breasted Nuthatches were one of the first coniferous-forest bird species to colonize and begin breeding in the isolated planted stands of pine (Zimmer 1913, Bray 1994). Despite the increasing number of records for the species year-round, breeding was apparently not confirmed for the state until 1980 in the McKelvie District of the NNF, Cherry County (Silcock and Jorgensen 2024). In recent decades, Redbreasted Nuthatches have proved to be sporadic and low-density breeding birds in the pine forests across the western and northern parts of the state, such as in the Pine Ridge, the Wildcat Hills, and in the bluffs along the Niobrara River (Silcock and Jorgensen 2024). In addition to these “core” areas, breeding has been confirmed in several urban areas with stands of pines, including Norfolk (Madison County), Omaha (Douglas County), Lincoln (Lancaster County), and Seward (Seward County) (Silcock and Jorgensen 2024). . . . Despite these sporadic statewide reports, there was no confirmation of breeding for Red-breasted Nuthatches in the Big Bend Reach of the Platte in central Nebraska pre-2024 (i.e., the Platte River region from ca. Lexington, Dawson County, to Chapman, Merrick County) (Bird et al. 2023, Silcock and Jorgensen 2024). . . . In early April 2024, Dr. Janet Steele [JS] located a presumed pair of Red-breasted Nuthatches visiting a cavity approximately 6–7 feet above the ground in the south side of an old snag near 40.706 N, 99.122 W in Kearney. . . . On 13 April 2024, JS obtained a photograph of one of the Red-breasted Nuthatches visiting the cavity; . . . On 16 May 2024, Dr. Jacob C. Cooper visited the nest cavity and, after waiting for some time, witnessed a bird shyly attending the cavity. . . . Later that same day, JS reported observing a Red-breasted Nuthatch quickly enter the cavity before the same bird (or a different bird) quickly exited, behavior consistent with an occupied nest. . . . This breeding record, as well as these suspected breeding records in the region, highlight the extent of the expansion of Red-breasted Nuthatches within the state of Nebraska and provide a first confirmed breeding record in the Big Bend Reach of the Platte in central Nebraska. Further effort should be taken to search other locations in south-central Nebraska and other parts of the state to determine the current extent of the breeding distribution of Red-breasted Nuthatches in the state.
Authors: Cooper, Jacob C., McGregor, Cody, Reichart, Letitia M., Steele, Janet
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7047335131
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