Many Brown-headed Nuthatches make their home in the tall longleaf pines of the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida. Twittering constantly, the birds probe for tiny insects or extract seeds from cones in the trees’ upper branches. Forests of longleaf pine once dominated the sandy coastal plain from Virginia to Texas, but the tall, straight pines proved irresistible for their lumber. Now, much of the forest is gone, replaced by dense planted stands of quicker-growing slash pines.

As our population grows, and more and more land is devoted to human uses, our national forests become increasingly important for birds, both rare and common.

More info and transcript at BirdNote.org. 

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