John James Audubon observed the Brown-headed Nuthatch pursuing “their avocations with so much cheerfulness that the woods echo to their notes. I have seen a congregation of these Nuthatches, amounting to fifty or more.” A much more common nuthatch in the southeastern United States and in much of North America today is the White-breasted nuthatch (Plate 152). When Audubon saw the White-breasted nuthatch, it was “in all parts of our extensive country, it is yet the least numerous; there being to appearance more than three of the Brown-headed, and two of the Red-bellied [Red-breasted – see Plate 105], for every one of the White-breasted.” If it was not for the loss of some ninety million acres of Longleaf pine savannah woodlands, the ratio might still be the same. Except urban sprawl and the planting of deciduous trees, fire suppression, and the predominance of forests consisting mainly of deciduous trees has completely turned the tables in favor of the White-breasted nuthatch.
Plate 125 – Brown-headed Nuthatch
Plate 125 of the first edition of "Birds of America" by John James Audubon.