Dictionary

nuthatch en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈnʌtˌhæt͡ʃ/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From Middle English nutthache, notehache, nuthake, nuttehake, nothak, equivalent to nut + hatch (akin to hack). Compare English nutcracker. Compare typologically Polish kowalik (akin to kować).

Meanings

1. Any of various small passerine birds from the genus Sitta, found throughout the northern hemisphere and noted for their unusual proclivity for climbing down trees head first.
   • The bird was in very faded plumage with only a slight rusty wash to the underparts, and had I not heard the call, I might have mistaken it for a Pygmy Nuthatch. 1996, The Nebraska Bird Review, Volumes 64-69, Nebraska Ornithologists' Union, page 156:
   • Considered a resident bird, the red-breasted nuthatch usually winters in the coniferous forests within its breeding range. 1998, George Adams, Birdscaping Your Garden, Rodale Press, page 65:
   • Nuthatches have rather a habit of entering houses through open windows, probably out of curiosity; and we owed to this habit a pet nuthatch, which became extremely tame, and used to take flies from our finger. 1895, Richard Lydekker, editor, The Royal Natural History, Volume 3, Frederick Warne & Co., page 440:

Forms

Deriveds

For more · Eurasian nuthatch · white-breasted nuthatch · wood nuthatch · Corsican nuthatch

Synonyms

nutjobber (bird in Sittidae) · nutpecker (bird in Sittidae) · nuthacker (bird in Sittidae)

Translations (25)

io sito (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · cs brhlík (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · sq zvarritës (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · pl bargiel (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · grc σίττη (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · lv dzilnītis (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · hu csuszka (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · pl kowalik (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · lt bukutis (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · fr sittelle (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · uk повзик (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · de Kleiber (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · ca pica-soques (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · pt trepadeira (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · cy delor cnau (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · es sita (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · rue поповзень (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · it picchio muratore (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · el δεντροτσοπανάκος (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · ro scorțar (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · sl brglez (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · ru по́ползень (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · bg горска зидарка (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · fi nakkeli (passerine bird from the genus Sitta) · ro țiclete (passerine bird from the genus Sitta)