NatureBoost Episode 77: Brown Headed Nuthatch
September 2026
SMA
[Intro music ♫]
>> Hey there, and welcome back to NatureBoost! The podcast where we explore the outdoors in Missouri, one adventure at a time. I'm Jill Pritchard with the Missouri Department of Conservation. First, if you're wondering where we've been the past couple of months, thanks for sticking around! Life and conservation work has been keeping me incredibly busy. So, the podcast unfortunately had to take a short pause while I focused on some other projects here at MDC.
But, I'm really glad to be back because today's story is one I'm excited to share. Because, it's related to birds. [Laughing.] Don't forget who you're talking to! You're talking to the winner of this year's Missouri's Birding Challenge! I am not even lying. Obviously, not for the bird checklist I submitted, but for the most creative name: "quid pro crow." That is when I peaked.
But we're not talking crows today. Actually, a bird much smaller. One that doesn't sound as harsh as a crow. Believe it or not, this bird has a tiny squeaky call that sounds like a rubber duck.
[Bird calling.]
It's the brown-headed nuthatch. And if you haven't heard of it, don't worry, because you're not alone. In fact, for more than a century Missouri didn't have any of these birds. But now it's one of our newest conservation success stories, bringing back a bird that disappeared from our state more than 100 years ago.
[Birds calling.]
What happened to this tiny, precious bird? How did it vanish from our state, and why does bringing it back matter?
[2:05.]
Well, luckily I have just the person to answer these questions. I spoke with MDC ornithologist Kristen Heath-Acre, who has been closely involved with Missouri's brown-headed nuthatch reintroduction.
>> Nuthatches are really important. They're part of the ecosystem. They excavate their own cavities, and so lots of animals in the ecosystem use cavities. So, they're important in that aspect. And really, when we're talking about habitat restoration, we're talking about holistic habitat restoration. Why bring the habitat back, but not the whole ecosystem? That's what this is a part of.
>> So, Kristen mentions habitat and the ecosystem, which was the biggest threat the species faced in Missouri. Brown-headed nuthatches depend on open pine woodlands. Millions of acres of pine woodlands once covered Southern Missouri, but gradually left the landscape due to widespread logging in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The regenerated forest we see today is dominated by oaks and hickories that replaced pines after their removal.
But the good news is, extensive restoration of pine woodlands in Mark Twain National Forest has created the necessary habitat for these birds to once again thrive.
>> Restoration is so important. It's a slow moving, you know, machine. This started decades ago with prescribed fires, tree thinning, and . . . you know, a lot of effort goes into restoring the landscape to what it once was. We came in 100 or 200 years ago and really removed from the landscape the shortleaf pine oak woodland systems. Now it regrew as thick oak hardwood forest, and that's not the natural state of the landscape. So, restoration is so important, because we're returning the land to what it really was. That helps the wildlife, the birds and wildlife that used to inhabit these areas restore themselves . . . but of course brown-headed nuthatches are a little too far away to naturally recolonize.
[4:06.]
So, we give them a little assist.
[Music ♪]
>> Giving the birds a little assist meant getting them here in the first place, and that meant a trip to Arkansas where brown-headed nuthatches were collected and carefully brought back to Missouri for reintroduction.
>> The birds were captured in Arkansas and they were flown here with an MDC aircraft. Then, we take them out of their little containers, put unique bands on them so that we can tell which unique individual is . . . they're color-banded, so unique color band codes. And then to a subsample of those birds, we attach a transmitter. Those transmitters will help us track their movements across the landscape. It will help us determine their survival. So, what percentage of these birds are surviving a month, a year from now.
We started this in 2020. We did 2 years as kind of a pilot reintroduction, and those birds did really well. They nested, they spread out really far, we've been finding them up to 27 miles away. So, they've been really kind of filling in the gaps of restored habitat here. We decided to move forward with bringing more birds here.
[Music ♪]
>> Can you imagine that process? Tiny birds, carefully transported across state lines, all helping to restore species after more than a century of absence. This is one of those conservation efforts most people never see happening behind the scenes. But I was lucky enough to tag along on this year's restoration efforts, and I'm especially glad I did. Because, this was the final year of the project.
[Birds calling, people laughing, unclear.] [Multiple speakers.]
[6:01.]
>> [unclear.]
> Squeaks! [Laughing.]
>> After all the planning, research and careful preparation, it comes down to opening a box, banding the birds, even fitting a few with transmitters, and giving them a chance to take flight.
[Birds calling, people talking.] [Multiple speakers.]
>> It's like a backpack. [unclear.]
>> [unclear.]
[Multiple speakers.]
>> While I was standing there that day, one of just a handful of people gathered around a folding table beneath towering pine trees, I watched biologists and partners gently hold these tiny birds, inspecting their wings and feathers before carefully securing numbered bands around their legs. And, I couldn't help but think about how easy it would be to overlook what was happening right in front of us. These birds are so small. They're not particularly flashy, and once they were released, they were impossible to see.
[Birds calling, people talking.]
>> 6 and 1. That's the last one. [unclear.]
[Birds calling.]
>> But somewhere in those trees, there was a bird that hadn't been part of Missouri's landscape for generations. And that's what really makes this restoration so interesting, because it went beyond bringing brown-headed nuthatches back to Missouri. It restored the habitat they and a whole community of other wildlife depend on.
>> Pine woodland habitat used to be what covered the Missouri Ozarks, you know, 100, 200 years ago. That's what it should have been. So, releasing these birds is sort of a culmination of a lot of good habitat management and restoration. They're good indicators of good restoration. If you come here now, you're going to see lots of good pine woodland, lots of open canopy, lots of sunlight hitting the floor, and lots of good habitat for not just brown-headed nuthatches, but other at-risk song birds too.
[8:09.]
Like prairie warblers, yellow-breasted chats, blueing warblers, these are birds that are in decline. We want to see that in Missouri. We want to see habitat restoration and the landscape restored to what it used to be. It's good for not just wildlife, not just brown-headed nuthatches, not just birds, but for other wildlife, and good for people too.
[Music ♪]
>> These little birds may be the stars of the show, but in reality, they couldn't migrate back to Missouri on their own. Their return to the state is the result of years and years of work of restoring the habitat they need. And, a lot of people who believed that one day we could hear their little rubber ducky calls again.
>> It's a really good feeling. We have a lot of birds here in Missouri now, a lot of brown-headed nuthatches. It's sort of the culmination of decades of work, really. Starting from habitat management, from folks in Mark Twain and MDC, you know, 10, 20, 30 years ago. Now, we're releasing these birds. This is the last year releasing these birds into Missouri. So, it's a great feeling.
We have a dozen different partners from Mark Twain National Forest, to Ouachita National Forest, to LAD, to Missouri Birding Society, you know . . . just, so many people came together to make this happen. From habitat management, all the way to helping just capture birds, fly the birds, bring them here. That has definitely been my favorite part. The networking, the partnerships, the communication, I think it has really brought us together for future good work, too.
[Music ♪]
>> The restoration project may now be ending, but their story in Missouri is really just beginning.
[10:00.]
These little birds now have a life to make here. Finding food, finding each other, and hopefully raising the next generation of Missouri brown-headed nuthatches. But their return reminds us that when people invest in habitat, work together, and stay committed for the long haul . . . nature has an incredible ability to recover. And you know, I think people are kind of like that too. Sometimes we need a little help, a little time, and sometimes we just need to find our way back.
It's been a little while since I've been behind this microphone. I feel like I'm a little rusty, honestly. But I'm grateful this story gave me an opportunity to come back. Sometimes it feels like the right story finds you at just the right time. So, a big thank you to ornithologist Kristen Heath-Acre and her team for having me out to Mark Twain National Forest to see this great restoration in progress, right in front of my eyes.
And, thanks to digital media producer Peg Craft, for always doing her magic to put these episodes together. And thank you, for sticking around and listening to NatureBoost! I'm Jill Pritchard, with the Missouri Department of Conservation, encouraging you to get your daily dose of the outdoors!
[Outro music ♫]
[End of podcast.]