Neighborly Nuthatch Moves In

Sun., March 21, 1999

It’s not National Geographic, but a home-produced video does a remarkable job of capturing visits by some amazing house guests.

“Nuthatch Neighbors,” chronicles family life of pygmy and white-breasted nuthatches that have nested in the walls of a Moscow, Idaho, home.

Rather than throwing the bums out, John and Betty Miller heard opportunity knocking when the nuthatches were pecking a hole in their siding.

The Millers carefully cut out a square of sheet rock inside the house and covered the 16-by-16 inch hole with plexiglass so they could watch and videotape the chick-raising antics.

The video shows the building of the nest between the studs in the wall. It captures the care the parents shower on the chicks as they break out of their eggs.

Betty’s narration delivers the tidbits of information they compiled about nuthatches and their behavior.

If you’re curious about birds and their behavior, this could be one of the most soothing 58 minutes you’ll spend during an evening in front of the tube.

The video is available for $19.95 from Whispering Pines, P.O. Box 8568, Moscow, ID 83843, telephone (208) 882-8344. (Idaho residents add $1 for sales tax.)

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