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Good afternoon! I see in this week’s paper a question about the name nuthatch, and I may have a plausible explanation. Nuthatches are tree dwelling birds that often hide seeds and nuts in crevasses in the bark. When they extract the edible portion, they peck at the shell or “hack” at it. So, the “nut” is “hacked” out of the shell by the bird using its sharp beak. Hatch is a corrupted spelling of hack in some lexicons. So, nut + hatch = nuthatch. I hope that helps!
Peace, Greg Mezzenga
Fridley and Hovland,
Minnesota
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