Heather

I have found paying attention to shape to be helpful to distinguish between white-breasted nuthatches and mountain chickadees in my backyard. While there are definitely distinct differences in markings and behavior, the coloring is similar enough and the birds in my backyard seem to be moving all the time making it harder to catch those differences! One thing I noticed that was really helpful to distinguish between them quickly, even in movement, was the shape of their bill. The chickadees have a much smaller bill than the nuthatches. It has really helped with split second identification!