My camera was not in arm's reach, of course. Little white or gray (light colored, in any case) bird. Dark back. Its most interesting characteristic was its ability to navigate tree limbs upside down. I saw it land on one and circle the thing top to bottom to top -- spiraling its way around it like it was nothing.
Also a very distinctive call. Not a whistle, but more of a single guttural chirp. It was actually its call that called my attention to it.
I'm terrible at describing these things, but curious nonetheless. I'm in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Any ideas?
Snaffles, since it appears you know something about these dinosaur descendants... I did have my camera but the bugger I spotted was just too fast. He didn't hop around the branch in spirals, he just casually literally hopped along, UNDER the branch, just as if it were on top!!!! No wing flapping to stay stuck to the branch. I cannot begin to fathom the physics involved in accomplishing this... Unfortunately, he was backlit so I couldn't get any detail, but roughly the size and shape of a sparrow.
I almost ALWAYS Google for my questions, but it just seemed that we had a resident birder who could help. Besides, what I saw wasn't DOWN the tree (which is easily imagined, since it's just interrupting the natural pull of gravity). It was hopping along UNDER a branch, which if you let go, offers no other hard surface to brake the fall. But it just hopped along like it was nothing :-)
I did Google it, thank you very much, but the nuthatches that came up were a more colorful variety than what I saw in my backyard this morning. Probably should have mentioned that. Digging deeper (on snaffles' tip) I found a white breasted variety which looked close enough for me to call it a match.
All the same, I got a chuckle out of the Google site.
If it's any help at all, nuthatches I've seen seem to be roughly the same size as a chickadee/goldfinch. Long narrow black beaks, one of ones has a chestnut-brown chest and is small, the larger one has a pale underbelly, some black streaks on the head and a slate-grey back/wings. And they give the impression of having almost no tail.
lol @ tanguera...wouldn't call myself a real birder, but I do know the ones that come to my feeder, and nuthatch seems to be the most likely one! :-)
ETA just looked at the linky for white-breasted nuthatch. Yep that's the larger of the 2 varieties I get.
Definitely a nuthatch. They can do amazing things! The definitely seem to defy gravity and get themselves into strange positions.
So, I went looking for nuthatch pictures, and bridge froze up, then Photoshop froze up. Restarted both, both froze again. Sorry -- no nuthatch pictures.
The Nuthatch spirals up and down tree trunks and branches. The Creeper mostly spirals up from the base of a tree trunk and then will fly to another tree. Both species are year round residents of the OP's area. The described call could be the nuthatch, but not the creeper. You would not have heard the creeper, but they do vocalize high pitch sounds. The nuthatch does have a gutteral one note call, but also a distinctive vocalization of several notes. Based on the upside down behavior, most likely a white-breasted nuthatch.
Edited to add: Of the three nuthatches we have in the West, you would not have a Pygmy Nuthatch in Pennsylvania. (Well, anything is possible, but let's say sightings of that similar species would be rare.) You could very possibly have a Red-breasted Nuthatch, but it would be smaller with reddish breast. Similar behavior, especially the upside down part. Different and distinctive call. Bandit black stripe through eye.
I'm believing it was a nuthatch as well Brian. The good news with that id is that they are very common, readily visit feeders and they aren't very shy. If you want to get some photos of a nuthatch it won't be difficult.
Here's a link to a .wav file with regional varieties of nuthatch calls. The last file on the page is the one closest to PA. .wav
Yay, now we have an official birder, hahn23!!! I've had both the red-breasted nuthatch and the white-breasted one at my feeder at the same time. They won't hesitate to fly up and get their share of food, but they don't tend to sit and linger, just grab and run. Ryan, Magnumphotography, has many great shots of nuthatches at my feeder and said one even let him touch it. He shoots them from about 3-5 feet away, with a flash and big-ass L series glass on.
Thanks, snaffles! I do enjoy birding. In Rocky Mountain National Park, I'm one of the volunteers who leads the park sponsored bird hikes each week from April to October. I serve in the role of "interpretive ranger". As always, the best way to learn a subject is to teach it. My location next to a wilderness area and my photography interest make birding a natural for me. I'd love to have DPCers join my bird hikes in RMNP.
