Bird Watching (UK)

NUTHATCH

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The Nuthatch is, as most birdwatche­rs know, the only regularly occurring British bird which habitually moves headfirst down trunks and branches. It is part of a wider family which is widespread across the northern hemisphere and though it is one of a few species which occur in Europe, is more ‘correctly’ known as the Eurasian Nuthatch, which has a very wide distributi­on from western Europe to Japan and far-eastern Russia. The word ‘Nuthatch’ dates back at least to the 14th Century and refers to the bird’s habit of wedging a nut in a crevice then repeatedly bashing it with its bill. It is thought that the ‘hatch’ part of the name is an obsolete form of ‘hack’.

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