My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the LORD; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young – a place near your altar, LORD Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage. Psalm 84:2-5 NIV
Nuthatches are one of my favorite birds. They seem to always be in motion, and their yank-yank call often brings us pleasure whether in our backyard or on mountain hikes. When I hear this cry after a long winter, I know spring is upon us.
As you can see in the above picture, the nuthatch will often smear tree resin around its nesting hole. Sometimes he carries the resin back in his bill, and sometimes he carries it on a twig or stick, and uses that to paint it on. I think that’s pretty cool. It is theorized that this resin helps keep other birds from using the nest. The nuthatch itself avoids the sap by flying straight into the cavity. Not sure how they can do that without banging into the back of the box and hurting themselves, but I’ve seen them do it.
Audubon states that nuthatches rarely uses man-made nest boxes. If that is true, then I feel doubly honored to have them nest in one I built, and rear their young near our home. They used this particular box at least two years in a row.
Nuthatches move around tree branches and trunks, searching for insects in the crevices of the tree bark. One of the more fascinating aspects of this bird is that he can wander straight down a tree trunk (headfirst!) as easily as moving up or across. If you are quiet and still when these birds are around, they will often come very close, and seem not to be afraid of humans. Conifer groves are one of their favorite habitats.
The writer of this Psalm speaks of everything longing to be near the Creator. That’s a very good place to be.
Hope you have a great day.