nuthatch

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nuthatch

nuthatch , common name applied to a number of Old and New World species of small birds of the genus Sitta, related to the titmouse and the creeper. The name refers to its habit of wedging nuts into crevices in trees and pecking them open. Nuthatches are unique in that they climb down tree trunks headfirst in their search for insects and spiders. Unlike the creepers, the nuthatches have straight bills and do not use their short tail feathers as a prop. Nuthatches are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Passeriformes, family Sittidae.

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nuthatch

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Â© The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

nuthatch XIV. ME. notehache, with later vars. in -hak, -hagge, which suggest deriv. from NUT and HACK1, †hag, HATCH2, with allusion to the bird's habit of cracking nuts.

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T. F. HOAD. "nuthatch." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 29 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "nuthatch." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (November 29, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-nuthatch.html

T. F. HOAD. "nuthatch." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved November 29, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-nuthatch.html

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