My daughter Paige texted this image to me, all excited. Took me a minute, I thought she was commenting on how cute my granddaughter looks! Nope. (even though she does look pretty dang cute!) She told me "Look up, Mom!" And there it was. A bird has chosen to make its nest in the kids' playhouse. Great idea! Sheltered, protected from the elements, difficult for a predator to get to! Here's a shot of the same playhouse from my upstairs window. We don't know what kind of bird, Paige has seen it fly into the playhouse a time or two, but she's not very avian-savvy, just said it's a nondescript looking one. Mockingbird or finch...though I think the nest is too big for a finch. Anyway, we'll be following the developments very closely!
How does you granddaughter feel about getting booted out of her playhouse Ronni? I hope the bird pays rent. Thanks for posting it and keep us updated!
What a nice little niche the bird has found to raise a family. I'll look forward to the updates to see what kind of bird it is.
Paige and I just had a conversation about that. She got all excited, thinking that the bird who's been at the bird feeder on the porch numerous times in the past few days, the one that she'd identified as a red headed finch (thanks google ) must be the same bird who built the nest...she insisted that the little bird must be pregnant "because look how fat she is, Mom! There must be an egg in there!" I know nothing of birds, so I just nodded my head in agreement...what do I know? But then she just texted me a minute ago..... Apparently the females don't have red heads so my theory is debunked. OR Its a different type of bird. I don't think I've seen any that didn't have a red head? There have been 4 at the feeder at once, all with red heads. That seems like a lot of boys. And once again, I'm just nodding....I have no clue! But she's incredibly tenacious about stuff like this, and a HUGE research nerd, so I know she'll solve it!
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/search is a great site for IDing birds and learning what they eat, etc. The male and female of many bird species have totally different looks. https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/House_Finch/lifehistory https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/lifehistory In size, the Mockingbird is almost twice the size of a Finch and only comes in browns and grays.
I can say with certainty now that the majority of our backyard birds are house finches! I've spotted at least one female, and I'm watching her closely to see if she flies into the playhouse where the nest is. There definitely are more males than females hanging around the feeder, but I've been reading that the males feed the females during incubation and even during courting, so I guess it makes sense. I'm learning so much! I love watching them from my window. fingers are crossed that she can lay eggs and raise a healthy brood!
Copied and pasted from a Facebook post of Paige's: Our little lady bird (and maybe her boyfriend) have been working hard on her nest. Top pics were taken 3 days before the bottom pics. The nest has gotten a little taller, more shaped, and the bottom has been filled in. We go out and check on the nest's progress once a day, but only after peering in from a distance to make sure bird lady isn't inside, and then we snap a pic and leave. Initially the kids were a little bummed about having to "give away" their playhouse to miss lady bird, but they're starting to understand it's just temporary and are getting excited that she might put babies in there soon
I love these progress photographs. The nest is looking good now so, hopefully, there'll be eggs laid in it soon.
Just fyi, the coloring of the nest is because of the light filtering through the red/pink plastic of the playhouse. It's not really made of hot pink and orange bits and pieces
Well, I was wrong! Our nest does belong to a Robin, not the finches that frequent our bird feeder! I'm so excited to start learning about robins and watch her do her thing (respectfully, of course). We set up a camera off in a corner of the playhouse, where I felt confident she wouldn't feel threatened by it, and we caught a little of her activity! We also have one egg so far! Here is a video.
Paige snuck in with a camera while Mama bird was elsewhere, and snapped a quick pick of the egg...at first I thought it was cracked, but I was looking at the pic on my phone, and I can zoom WAY in. The "crack" is just part of the coloration of the egg. Ed has been following the story with great interest too, and has contributed a pair of good quality binoculars for Paige's use. William keeps cautioning her about standing at the window with the binocs for too long....says the neighbors will think she's stalking them She doesn't care...she's fascinated with the whole process!
I was exactly the same last year Ronni. A blackbird nested in my clematis and I couldn't stop checking on it. I could see the nest through the patio doors and I was almost glued to them from the beginning. It really is exciting to see the first egg in the nest and then to wait and watch until the last one is laid. Then the long wait (not really but it seemed like it) until the nestlings appeared. Every time I saw a magpie around I'd see it off so that the babies were protected. I can see why Paige is so fascinated and I hope to see 'her' youngsters when they hatch and then fledge.
And now there are two eggs! Sorry for the blurry photo...Paige snuck in quickly while Mama bird was away. Given where the nest is, she can't even see into it....she has to position the camera more or less where she thinks it will get a good shot, and then hope for the best. At least it's clear enough to know there are two now!
