Editing Nuthatch (section)

===Feeding===
[[File:2017.07.05.-14-NaturCampingplatz am Springsee-Storkow (Mark)--Kleiber-Maennchen.jpg|thumb|upright|Eurasian nuthatch prying something out from under the bark of a tree]]
Nuthatches forage along tree trunks and branches and are members of the same [[Guild (ecology)|feeding guild]] as woodpeckers. Unlike woodpeckers and [[Certhia|treecreepers]], however, they do not use their tails for additional support, relying instead on their strong legs and feet to progress in jerky hops.<ref name="Matthysen & Löhrl"/><ref>{{cite journal|author1=Fujita, M. |author2= K. Kawakami |author3=S. Moriguchi |author4=H. Higuchi  |name-list-style=amp |title=Locomotion of the Eurasian nuthatch on vertical and horizontal substrates|journal=Journal of Zoology |volume=274 |issue=4 |pages=357–366 |year=2008 |doi= 10.1111/j.1469-7998.2007.00395.x}}</ref> They are able to descend head-first and hang upside-down beneath twigs and branches. Krüper's nuthatch can even stretch downward from an upside-down position to drink water from leaves without touching the ground.<ref name="Albayrak">{{cite journal | last= Albayrak | first= Tamer | author2= Erdoğan, Ali | year= 2005 | title= Observations on some behaviours of Krüper's Nuthatch (''Sitta krueperi''), a little-known West Palaearctic bird | journal= Turkish Journal of Zoology | volume= 29 | pages= 177–181 | url= http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/zoology/issues/zoo-05-29-2/zoo-29-2-12-0203-8.pdf | access-date= 2008-06-27 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090225143555/http://journals.tubitak.gov.tr/zoology/issues/zoo-05-29-2/zoo-29-2-12-0203-8.pdf | archive-date= 2009-02-25 |url-status = dead}}</ref> Rock nuthatches forage with a similar technique to the woodland species, but seek food on rock faces and sometimes buildings. When breeding, a pair of nuthatches will only feed within their territory, but at other times will associate with passing [[tit (bird)|tits]] or join [[mixed-species feeding flock]]s.<ref name="HQfamily"/><ref name="BWPintro"/><ref name="Robson">{{cite book | last = Robson | first = Craig | title = A Field Guide to the Birds of Thailand | year = 2004 | publisher = New Holland Press |page = 204 | isbn = 978-1-84330-921-5}}</ref>

[[Insect]]s and other [[invertebrate]]s are a major portion of the nuthatch diet, especially during the breeding season, when they rely almost exclusively on live prey,<ref name="ADWwbn"/> but most species also eat seeds during the winter, when invertebrates are less readily available. Larger food items, such as big insects, [[snail]]s, [[acorn]]s or seeds may be wedged into cracks and pounded with the bird's strong bill.<ref name="HQfamily"/> Unusually for a bird, the brown-headed nuthatch uses a piece of tree bark as a lever to pry up other bark flakes to look for food; the bark tool may then be carried from tree to tree or used to cover a seed [[cache (biology)|cache]].<ref name="Cornellbhn"/>

All nuthatches appear to store food, especially seeds, in tree crevices, in the ground, under small stones, or behind bark flakes, and these caches are remembered for as long as 30 days.<ref name="HQeurasian"/><ref name="HQpigmy"/><ref>{{cite journal| last= Hardling | first= Roger |author2=Kallander, Hans|author3=Nilsson, Jan-Åke | year=1997 | title= Memory for hoarded food: an aviary study of the European Nuthatch | journal=[[The Condor (journal)|The Condor]] | volume=99 | issue= 2| pages= 526–529 | url = http://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/condor/v099n02/p0526-p0529.pdf | doi= 10.2307/1369961| jstor= 1369961}}</ref> Similarly, the rock nuthatches wedge snails into suitable crevices for consumption in times of need.<ref name="HQwrock"/><ref name="HQerock"/> European nuthatches have been found to avoid using their caches during benign conditions in order to save them for harsher times.<ref>{{cite journal| last= Nilsson | first= Jan-Åke |author2=Persson, Hans Källander Owe | year=1993 | title= A prudent hoarder: effects of long-term hoarding in the European nuthatch, ''Sitta europaea'' | journal= Behavioral Ecology | volume=4 | issue= 4| pages= 369–373| doi= 10.1093/beheco/4.4.369}}</ref>