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This autumn we're training our webcams on a woodland bird feeding station to watch the birds stocking up for winter.

More about the species

The nuthatch is a distinctive woodland bird with a stony blue-grey upper body and chestnut-orange chest and flanks. They have a long pointed bill and dark horizontal stripes from the beak across each eye towards the back of the head.

Roughly the size of a great tit, the nuthatch is the only British bird that can climb down trees and branches as well as up them. They are commonly seen descending tree trunks head first.

Nuthatches feed on various nuts and seeds at this time of year, and are known to frequent bird tables and feeders where they can be aggressive to other feeding species. They may also be spotted hammering nuts into cracks in trees to split them open with their beaks.

Nuthatches are quite vocal with a loud ringing 'tuit, tuit, tuit-tuit' call, as well as a loud rattling 'pee, pee, pee' trill.