The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) and partners recently finished phase three of Brown-headed Nuthatch reintroduction efforts in the Missouri Ozarks.
In 2020 and 2021, MDC released 102 birds to the U.S. Forest Service’s Mark Twain National Forest as part of a pilot effort to achieve holistic ecosystem restoration of Missouri’s shortleaf pine woodlands.
To continue this effort and to establish an extensive, sustainable population, 95 more nuthatches were reintroduced Aug. 27-30.
Brown-headed Nuthatches are only found in pine-woodlands where the pines are mature, the canopy is mostly open to sunlight, and there are plenty of well-decayed snags for nesting.
