How to Attract Nuthatches to Your Garden Feeding Station
The nuthatch (Sitta europaea) is one of Britain’s most distinctive garden visitors. Compact, assertive, and unmistakable with its slate-blue back, warm buff underparts, and bold black eye stripe, this small bird has a habit that sets it apart from every other species on your feeders: it walks head-first down tree trunks and branches, defying gravity with apparent ease. If you live in England or Wales and have mature trees nearby, there is every chance a nuthatch is already in your neighbourhood. With the right feeding station setup, you can bring it into your garden on a regular basis.
This guide covers everything you need to know — the right foods, feeder types, placement, habitat improvements, and a bit of patience — to make your garden a reliable stop for nuthatches throughout the year.
Understanding the Nuthatch: A Brief Introduction
Before adjusting your feeding station, it helps to understand what you are dealing with. The nuthatch is a year-round resident across most of England and Wales. It is largely absent from Scotland and Ireland, though sightings in southern Scotland have become more frequent in recent years, possibly linked to changing land use and mild winters. According to the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), nuthatch populations in Britain have increased substantially since the 1970s, with the species now recorded in suburban and even urban gardens where mature trees are present.
Nuthatches are strongly territorial and tend to occupy the same patch of woodland or garden habitat throughout the year. A pair will defend their territory aggressively, and once you attract a nuthatch to your garden, you are likely seeing the same individual or pair returning repeatedly. They are not migratory, so consistent feeding will build a reliable relationship over weeks and months.
They are also bold birds. Unlike the shy marsh tit or the flighty treecreeper, a nuthatch will often perch openly on a feeder, wedge a nut into bark, and hammer at it loudly. Their call — a loud, ringing “tuit-tuit-tuit” or a nasal “hweet” — is easy to learn and often announces their presence before you see them.
What Nuthatches Eat: Getting the Food Right
Diet is the single most important factor in attracting nuthatches. They are omnivorous, eating insects, spiders, and invertebrates in warmer months, and switching heavily to seeds and nuts during autumn and winter. At feeding stations, they are particularly drawn to high-energy, hard-shelled foods — the kind they can wedge into crevices and break open with their strong, pointed bills.
Sunflower Hearts and Whole Sunflower Seeds
Sunflower hearts (dehusked sunflower seeds) are arguably the single best all-round food for attracting nuthatches. They are calorie-dense, easy for the bird to handle, and attract a wide range of species, making your feeding station busier overall. Whole black sunflower seeds also work well; nuthatches will wedge them into bark and crack them open with repeated hammer blows from their bill.
Buy from a reputable UK supplier such as Vine House Farm, Really Wild Bird Food, or the RSPB’s own shop. Quality matters — cheaper mixed seed bags often contain high proportions of milo or wheat that most garden birds, including nuthatches, largely ignore.
Peanuts
Whole peanuts are a nuthatch favourite. They are high in fat and protein, and nuthatches will carry them away to cache in tree bark for later consumption — a behaviour known as food hoarding. Use a proper wire peanut feeder rather than a mesh bag, as the wire feeder allows birds to peck at the nuts safely without the risk of dislodging large chunks that could choke fledglings.
Always buy peanuts that are certified aflatoxin-free and sourced from a reputable supplier. The RSPB recommends only purchasing peanuts that meet quality assurance standards, as mouldy peanuts can contain toxins that are lethal to birds. Never put out salted or dry-roasted peanuts from your kitchen cupboard — these are harmful to wildlife.
Suet Products
Fat-based suet products — suet pellets, suet cakes, and suet blocks — are excellent for nuthatches, particularly in cold weather when energy demands are high. Look for products that contain insect or mealworm inclusions, as these provide additional protein. Nuthatches will readily visit suet cage feeders mounted on or near trees.
Mealworms
Live or dried mealworms are highly attractive to nuthatches, especially during the breeding season when they are searching for protein-rich food to feed chicks. Offer them in a shallow dish or specialist mealworm feeder. Live mealworms are more attractive than dried, but dried mealworms (rehydrated with a little water) are a practical year-round option.
Mixed Seed
A good quality mixed seed blend containing sunflower hearts, chopped peanuts, and niger seed can supplement your offering but should not be the primary food. Avoid economy mixes heavy in wheat and milo — these create waste and attract unwanted pests.
Choosing the Right Feeders
Nuthatches are adaptable and will use a range of feeder types, but there are some that work better than others.
Tube Feeders for Sunflower Hearts
A standard clear plastic tube feeder with multiple ports works well for sunflower hearts. Choose a feeder with metal-reinforced ports, as nuthatches (and squirrels) can enlarge plastic ports over time. A wider-diameter tube feeder with large ports gives the nuthatch room to feed without being jostled by smaller birds. The nuthatch’s assertive character means it will often displace tits and sparrows at the feeder, but it appreciates a perch-free or short-perch design that suits its tendency to cling rather than sit.
Peanut Feeders
A robust, stainless-steel or powder-coated wire mesh peanut feeder is ideal. Nuthatches will cling to the mesh in any orientation, including upside down. Avoid thin, cheap mesh feeders as these corrode quickly and can injure birds’ feet. The mesh aperture should be small enough to prevent birds pulling out large chunks of nut — roughly 6mm is standard.
Suet Cage Feeders
A simple wire cage feeder holding a suet block or fat ball works well mounted on a tree trunk or fence post. Nuthatches are especially comfortable on vertical surfaces, so fixing a suet cage to the bark of a mature tree is highly effective and mimics their natural foraging behaviour.
Tray Feeders and Ground Feeding
A raised tray feeder — essentially a flat platform on a pole — is useful for scattering mixed seed and sunflower hearts. Nuthatches will use them but prefer elevated positions with nearby cover to retreat to. Avoid feeding nuthatches on the ground; they rarely feed at ground level and ground feeding increases exposure to cats and disease spread from faecal contamination.
Log Feeders
One of the most effective and natural-looking feeding solutions for nuthatches is a log feeder: a short section of a thick branch or log with holes drilled into it, filled with suet or peanut butter (unsalted, no xylitol). You can buy these ready-made or make your own. Mount one on a tree trunk or hang it from a branch, and nuthatches will immediately take to it, as it closely resembles their natural foraging habitat.
Positioning Your Feeding Station for Nuthatches
Where you place your feeders matters enormously. Nuthatches are woodland-edge birds at heart, and they feel most secure where there is nearby tree cover.
Proximity to Mature Trees
If your garden has a mature oak, ash, beech, or any other large deciduous tree, position at least one feeder within a few metres of it. Nuthatches use trees as launch pads, approaching feeders in short flights from branch to branch. The closer your feeder is to an established tree, the more likely a nuthatch is to include it in its foraging route.
If your garden lacks trees, consider whether a neighbour’s tree overhangs your boundary. Even proximity to a large garden tree next door can be enough. Planting your own trees — oak and silver birch are particularly beneficial for wildlife and grow reasonably quickly — is a long-term investment that will pay dividends for many species.
Height and Mounting
Mount feeders at a height of roughly 1.5 to 2 metres. Too low and the birds feel exposed to ground predators; too high and they become difficult to maintain and refill. Attaching feeders directly to tree trunks or hanging them from branches is particularly effective for nuthatches.
Shelter and Cover
Ensure there is cover within two or three metres of the feeding station — dense shrubs, a hedgerow, or a fence with climbing plants all provide retreat options. Birds rarely linger at exposed feeders; they grab food and retreat to cover to eat it safely. The nuthatch, despite its boldness, is no different.
Distance from the House
Position feeders where you can see them clearly from a window, both for your enjoyment and so you can monitor what is visiting. A distance of two to four metres from a window is ideal — close enough for observation but not so close that your movement indoors startles the birds constantly. The RSPB advises against positioning feeders too close to windows due to the risk of collision; if you must place them close, within one metre is actually safer than two to five metres, as birds do not build up dangerous speed over such a short distance.
Feeder Hygiene and Maintenance
This step is non-negotiable. Dirty feeders harbour bacteria including Salmonella and Trichomonas gallinae (the parasite responsible for the disease trichomonosis, which has devastated greenfinch and chaffinch populations in Britain). Nuthatches, like all garden birds, are susceptible to these diseases.
Moving Forward
Once you have the fundamentals in place, the possibilities open up considerably. The UK offers fantastic opportunities for anyone interested in this hobby, and with the right foundation you will be well placed to make the most of them.