BIRD 5
Someone appears to have put a feeder out in this bit of woodland. Or perhaps this woodland bird was doing what many have done before it, and taking a garden for an extension of its woodland habitat. The first thing that may strike you is that the bird appears to be upside down, or at least facing downwards. This, in itself, is a clue. There is a long, straight, pointed, almost woodpecker-like bill. Then the colour: a rich chestnut buff on the belly and breast fading to an even richer chestnut with white spots on the undertail coverts. The throat is white and there is a black stripe through the eye and perhaps blue-grey above it. It has to be a typically upside-down Nuthatch.
KEY FEATURES Upside down stance Woodpecker-like bill Buff underparts; spotted undertail coverts Black ‘bandit mask’