The 4 Foods Nuthatches Love to Eat

Lori VanoverUpdated: Nov. 29, 2023

What do nuthatches eat? Attract acrobatic nuthatches to your yard by offering a buffet of their favorite foods and seeds in bird feeders.

Our editors and experts handpick every product we feature. We may earn a commission from your purchases.

brown headed nuthatch — Brown-headed nuthatch in South Carolina

What Do Nuthatches Eat?

The most common backyard nuthatches are white-breasted nuthatches and red-breasted nuthatches. Other North American nuthatches can be found in specialized habitats—brown-headed nuthatches live in the Deep South and pygmy nuthatches in western forests. If you want to attract nuthatches, you have probably asked what do nuthatches eat?

Insects are the main food source for nuthatches. The birds search bark and crevices for hidden treats like beetles, spiders, ants and caterpillars as they dance around tree trunks. Nuthatches will also visit backyard feeders, especially if you have a yard full of trees they can use for foraging and shelter. Stock your feeders with their favorite foods, and you’ll be on your way to attracting nuthatches.

Fascinating fact: Not only do nuthatches search crevices for food, they also hide food in them. They will stuff seeds or insects in holes in trees and cleverly cover their hiding spots with lichens, moss or pieces of bark. The nuthatches will return to this hidden food and use it as nourishment to get through winter.

Suet

Whether you make your own suet or buy it, a suet block in a cage-like feeder is sure to attract nuthatches. In the winter months, when conifer seeds are sometimes scarce, red-breasted nuthatches will travel in search of food and will likely stop at feeders for a suet snack. Add peanut butter to your DIY suet mixture and white-breasted nuthatches will love it even more!

Check out the best suet feeders for winter birds.

Sunflower Seeds

4 Foods to Attract Nuthatches to Your Yard | Birding | Birds & Blooms Magazine — White-breasted nuthatch eating sunflower seeds

Any form of sunflower seed will attract desirable birds, but when it comes to feeding nuthatches, serving up black oil sunflower seeds is a slam dunk. Because bully birds also seek out black oil sunflower seeds, a tube feeder with small perches is best.

Check out the 10 types of bird feeders you need in your backyard.

Peanuts

If you don’t have a peanut feeder yet, get your hands on one for this upcoming cold season. Here’s how to make a DIY bird feeder for peanuts. Red and white-breasted nuthatches will entertain you for hours scurrying up, down and around a peanut feeder. Their favorite food to eat? Out of the shell, unsalted peanuts.

Here’s how to attract more birds by feeding peanuts.

Live Mealworms

More species than just bluebirds enjoy a mealworm snack. A large portion of the nuthatch diet is insects, so putting out mealworms for them is definitely worth a shot. They don’t require anything fancy; just toss some mealworms in a shallow tray or platform feeder and cross your fingers. Check out our guide to feeding mealworms to birds.

Next, check out the 4 best foods for attracting woodpeckers.

Originally Published: September 14, 2021

Lori Vanover

Lori has 20 years of experience writing and editing home, garden, birding and lifestyle content for several publishers. As Birds & Blooms senior digital editor, she leads a team of writers and editors sharing birding tips and expert gardening advice. Since joining Trusted Media Brands 13 years ago, she has held roles in digital and print, editing magazines and books, curating special interest publications, managing social media accounts, creating digital content and newsletters, and working with the Field Editors—Birds & Blooms network of more than 50 backyard birders. Passionate about animals and nature, Lori has a Bachelor of Science degree in Agricultural and Environmental Communications from the University of Illinois. In 2023, she became certified as a Wisconsin Extension Master Gardener, and she is a member of the Wisconsin Society for Ornithology and sits on the organization's Publications Advisory Committee. She frequently checks on her bird feeders while working from home and tests new varieties of perennials, herbs and vegetable plants in her ever-growing backyard gardens.