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Editor’s note:
How many nuts could a nuthatch hatch if a nuthatch could hatch nuts?
Who knows? But Bob LaMettry figured out the answer to a scintillating and vexing question raised a by reader last week. And that question was, “Why is a nuthatch called a nuthatch?
In last week’s edition of the News Herald, “Bill from Lutsen” was wondering how a nuthatch acquired its name.
According to Stan Tekiela in his “Birds of Minnesota Field Guide” the name nuthatch comes from the old English moniker “nut hack.” The term refers to the bird’s habit of wedging a seed into a crevice and ‘hacking’ it open. Similar to chickadees, they quickly grab one seed and fly off to crack it open. Both red breasted and white breasted nuthatches exhibit this behavior.
These respectful little birds always wait their turn. Nature again, teaches us a valuable life lesson. Bob LaMettry,
Grand Marais
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