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BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
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Fig. 93. Red-breast¬ 
ed Nuthatch 
State Records. —If the Red-breasted Nuthatch ever breeds in New Mexico 
it must be rarely and probably accidentally. A single specimen was taken June 
13, 1899, at 6,600 feet near the base of Mount Capitan (Bailey). The bird could 
hardly have been breeding at the place where it was col¬ 
lected and presumably was a non-breeding straggler. There 
is no other summer record for New Mexico, and the bird 
is rare as a breeder even in Colorado. 
The first migrants appear in New Mexico late in August: 
Sierra Grande, about August 17, 1903 (Howell); Beaver 
Lake, 7,500 feet, August 26, 1908 (Bailey); one near Alps, 
September 4, 1903 (Howell); one at 8,700 feet near Taos Pass, 
September 11, 1903 (Bailey); a few on the summit of Costilla Pass, 10,500 feet 
late in September, 1903 (Howell); one September 24, 1902, near Fort Sumner, 
4,200 feet, and one, October 1, 1903, near the Ruins of Gran Quivera, the only 
one seen in the Mesa Jumanes region although it was common in the Manzano 
Mountains, October 3-December 23, 1903 (Gaut). It has also been noted at Fort 
Webster (Henry). 
Since the species is not known south of New Mexico, these fall birds undoubtedly 
. remain in the State through the winter. In the Guadalupe Mountains a few were 
seen at about 6,500 feet, January, 1915 (Willett). 
In spring migration, one was seen May 11, 1907, at Shiprock (Gilman).—W. W. 
Cooke. 
Nest. —In holes in stubs or dead trees, lined with grass, roots, and shreds of 
bark. Eggs: 4 to 8, white or creamy, speckled with browns and lavender. 
General Habits. —While similar to the Rocky Mountain Nut¬ 
hatch in habits, the notes of the Red-breasted are sharper. It is also 
said to be quicker in its motions and, as Mr. Silloway has noticed, at 
times acts like a flycatcher, leaving its investigation of bark crevices 
to fly out “capturing a flying insect dexterously in the air,” and return¬ 
ing to its gleaning on the bole (1907, p. 54). The male is said to share 
the duties of incubation. 
PYGMY NUTHATCH: Sitta pygmaea pygmaea Vigors 
Plate 54 
Description. — Length: 3.8-4.5 inches, wing about 2.6, bill .6. Adults: Crown 
and hind-neck olive, hind-neck with a concealed huffy or whitish spot (exposed in 
worn plumage); rest of upperparls bluish or leaden gray, tail with middle feathers 
like back with basal half partly white, rest of feathers black, the outer pairs tipped 
with slate and banded with white; wings mainly unmarked, primaries and their 
coverts brownish slate, the longest ones usually edged with white ; throat white, or 
buffy white, rest of underparts dull buffy (whitish in worn midsummer plumage); 
sides and flanks bluish gray. (From late summer to early winter, coloration deeper, 
white of nape obscured by olive tips to feathers.) Young in juvenal plumage: 
Similar to adults, but crown and hind-neck gray, almost like back, and sides and 
flanks buffy or brownish instead of gray. 
Range. —Transition Zone from southern British Columbia and Montana south 
to Vera Cruz, Puebla, and Michoacan. 
State Records. —The Pygmy Nuthatch is abundant in the yellow pines of 
New Mexico. It was found on July 2, 1864, at Fort Wingate, 7,000 feet (Coues), 
