Nuthatches eating out of the palm of your hand
">Are you a bird lover? You can get a red-breasted nuthatch to eat out of your hand in five minutes.You'll need a bird feeder in your yard that has high quality seed -- it must include black oil sunflower seed. The best time is 7 to 8 a.m. before the sparrows take over the feeder. Once you have attracted the nuthatch to the feeder, stand next to the feeder as the bird eats so he becomes comfortable with you. The one-third-of-an-ounce nuthatch is the only bird that will come to the feeder while you are standing next to it.After the bird feeds a few times, dump most of the seed from the feeder out into a bag. Fill your hand with peanuts -- a favorite treat of the nuthatch -- and hold it next to the feeder. You can hear when the bird is coming because it makes a very high-pitch nasal call when in flight.The red-breasted nuthatch has vision three times better than humans so they will spot the peanuts in your hand. If you prefer, hold the feeder and the bird will feed from it. Do not try to take photographs the first couple of times you try to hand feed them.This bird normally winters in southern Canada but is currently in the Chicago area in numbers not seen since 1989.To view a photo gallery of red-breasted nuthatch birds, go to dailyherald.com.If you have these birds in your yard or if you're able to get one to eat out of your hand, I'd love to hear from you; write to me at the address below.If you get a good photograph of any bird, e-mail it to the Daily Herald's photography contest, foxcontest@dailyherald.com.