Brown Thrashers Nesting!

What a treat!  

A "skulking" bird, according to Cornell's website description, and I agree.  The thrashers in my yard have not been easily observed at close range, concealing themselves in underbrush, singing from the tip-top of poplars and oaks, and generally departing as quickly as I spot them at eye level.

But I have seen a pair of them on many occasions, sometimes hanging out in the holly near the bird bath but rarely with enough light and visibility for me to capture a good image.  Whatever has changed, I couldn't be more delighted, because they are lately making themselves visible, hunting on the lawn in front of my patio, near the holly and the birdbath, in the same vicinity as the bluebird nestbox and the mealworm feeder.

I have even witnessed at close range, one of the pair flying down to the edge of the patio to pick up a sunflower seed that had dropped from the feeder.

And on several occasions I've been treated to a hunting observation--neck out stretched, head cocked, pounding the ground like a woodpecker, then popping up with a beetle or a grub.  I have even wondered how much hearing plays a part in the location of prey.  Do they hear the movement of grubs and beetles under the ground or is it sight alone that guides their hunting?

On Wednesday, the 2nd of May, I began to wonder if the pair was nesting near by.  On several occasions I have heard the male singing on the east side of the gazebo.  Not his full song, but short, soft phrases.  And not from the top of a tree, but lower.

On the east side of the gazebo there is a dead dogwood, now covered by exotic wisteria that has draped its boughs over the dogwood branches year after year.  The wisteria is frequently cut back, but the vines grow rapidly.  I walked around to see if the thrashers might be building a nest in that dogwood.  And yes!  They are.  On Wednesday, there was a nice large nest of sticks already in place in a limb crotch of the dogwood, completely sheltered by the wisteria canopy.

The pair was observed successively flying in and out of the nest site several times, and once when the male left the nest, he preceded his departure with a soft series of song notes.  Lovely.  Cornell also says that the brown thrasher can be as aggressive as a mockingbird when it comes to defending its territory and has been known to "strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood."  Yikes.  I've been forewarned.

References:
Cornell All about Birds:  Brown Thrasher
To read about other nesting birds in this blog visit:  Red-shouldered Hawks, Eastern Bluebird Family, Carolina Chickadees, Purple Martins

Eastern Bluebirds--Landlord or Local Diner?

Bluebirds can leave you scratching your head from day to day, wondering what their plans are for that empty nest box.

This morning a pair of Eastern bluebirds landed on the limbs overhead almost instantly when I signaled with a whistle that the mealworm diner was now open for customers.  I had barely closed the feeder top when the pair appeared, singing softly.  I sat on the patio and watched as first the male and then the female visited the dish of mealworms. It was especially gratifying to hear the female's contented chirps as she fed.

The male patiently waited for her to finish, and then, poof, they were gone, the nest box serving as nothing more than a perch in route to the feeder.

After they left, I watched a male tufted titmouse repeatedly visit the feeder and return to a limb to feed his waiting mate.  This was definitely a smile-worthy observation.  I have no idea where they are nesting but it is certainly somewhere nearby.  The male frequently declares his territory with song and raspy scolding notes.  The bluebirds, on the other hand, make me wonder if they are nesting elsewhere and simply stopping by for a snack at the local diner.

As recently as a week ago, the male and female landed on the nest box together and exchanged excited communications, both chattering and wing-waving.  Above, you see the male wing-waving to encourage the female to join him on the next box.  And below, she has landed on the guard, preparing to check out the nest box.  Wing-waving, an alternating series of wing lifts, is expressed by both the male and the female and seems to signal a greeting and encouragement that reinforces the pair bond during the breeding season.

If it were not for last year's records, I would have given up hope that I will have a nesting pair of bluebirds this season.  My notes show that on April 8th of 2011, the pair that raised two broods last season in this nest box had not yet claimed it.  In mid March the wintering flock dispersed as one pair of bluebirds in their midst vigorously chased away flock mates and flock members dispersed in search of breeding territories and mates.  And while some bluebirds may still be searching for nest sites, many pairs in our area have already nested and are incubating eggs.

On the other hand, I have a decisive pair of chickadees in charge of my second nest box.  A Carolina chickadee (above) is building her nest right on schedule with last year's nesting record.  When I last checked the box on March 30th, the female had completed her thick base of moss and was placing a layer of soft grasses, hair, downy feathers, and other soft materials over it to begin forming the nest cup.

Chickadee nests are so soft and neat, astoundingly lovely.

Links and resources:

For stories and images of last season's nesting bluebirds, visit:  Bluebird Family.  And for more on Carolina chickadees visit my chickadee posts.

Also please visit my new book:  Red-shouldered Hawk Territory, A sketchbook journey through nesting season.  The book will be ready for shipping by April 12th and contains my sketches, field notes and the stories and photos that unfolded during four-months of observing a nesting pair of red-shouldered hawks.  You can visit some of those stories and images on this blog by clicking: Red-shouldered hawks. Scroll to the bottom to read earliest posts first.

Purple Martins--Nesting Behavior

It is always amazing to me when a bird hangs in there, remaining on the nest while a nest-check is taking place.   

One of the tasks of a purple martin landlord is checking the nests to record progress or problems as they look after the welfare of their purple martin colony.  On one of my visits this summer to a martin colony in my area, I had the pleasure of being present for one of these nest checks.  Not only was it intriguing to see the array of twigs, leaves and other items the martins add to their nests, but also to see the several martin females that remained on their nests while the nest check was in progress.  Keep in mind, the rows of artificial gourd housing are lowered with a pulley-like system, so the bird is not only remaining on the nest through this lowering process, but through other nest checks until the portal in her gourd is finally opened for viewing.     

Personally, I call that courage.  But it is also true, that when landlords visit their birds on a regular basis, the birds become familiar with the landlord and are not alarmed when nest checks take place.  The purple martin's historical reliance on housing provided by humans and preference for the safety of living near human activity, may also help foster this trust.

In my last post I showed you a purple martin female trying to maneuver a long twig into her nest cavity.  Now, take a look at the pine cone in the nest above, and the image below.  The cone was almost the size of my hand, clearly larger than the smaller, more oblong cavity opening that it was maneuvered through.  

One has to wonder how a martin managed to grip an object this size, let alone, pull it into the nest cavity with an opening no larger than the one shown below!  

And then there's the leaves.      

A universal habit of purple martins is the addition of fresh green leaves to the nest, beginning with the completion of the loose nest structure and continuing until the eggs hatch.  Both the male and female participate in this activity, but observations seem to indicate that males become more preoccupied with this task. 

Above, you see a female martin plucking a maple leaf, and below, a male martin perched with a pear leaf before taking it into the nest. 

A report on the Purple Martin Conservation Association website gives some delightful descriptions of this leaf gathering activity (link provided below).  Practical theories for why fresh leaves are added to the nest include parasite control and thermal regulation, but the real purpose for adding the leaves remains a mystery. 

August 9th:  Update--Pine cones added by hand not beak!

Because the pine cones seen in the above nests did not make sense as nesting material, and one is quite large, I inquired about this occurrence at the Purple Martin Conservation Association, and also with the colony landlord.  Many purple martin landlords collect pine straw and place it in the nesting cavities prior to martin nesting activity to encourage nest selection.  Pine needles are often raked into a pile, and along with them, some pine cones.  When grabbing a handful of straw to place in a nest through the opened portal, sometimes a cone that is not open won't be felt.  This is what the landlord believed happened, especially in the case of the larger pine cone.    

Coming up:  More fun stories about purple martins!

Links and Resources:

Purple Martin Conservation Association:  Green Leaves and Martins

To see all my posts on this colony visit:  purple martins.  The most recent post will be first.

Visit my Purple Martin with Prey painting and watch it take shape at Vickie's Sketchbook.

Purple martin eggs and babies

Purple Martins Finding a Summer Home

South Austin, TX--Saving Martin Babies from Heat

More Than Just A Nest

We've all smiled at the acrobatic speed of a squirrel's chase high in the trees. But the determination and agility that goes into cutting and hauling limbs to a nest brings my respect for that agility to a new level.

Building a nest isn't simple. For a squirrel its cutting, dragging, clinging, leaping, tugging, regrouping, all the way back to the nest site. And while watching this squirrel in action, it became

very apparent why she selected limbs within 6-8 feet of the nest.

There's actually a squirrel in the image above. Look for her chin in the upper left. The limb is bigger than she is. Below, she is in the process of getting it back to the nest. The limb snags, she stops to regroup, gets a better hold on it, then tries a different direction.

Success at last. After getting it to the nest and arranging it to suit, she pops back out to gather another limb.
What's all that clicking going on down there?
And she's off to cut another limb.
As I watched her work, I was struck by how much I didn't know about squirrel behavior and their nest building. Question after question arose. This was driven activity. She didn't stop to scold me. She didn't make a sound. She plunged into her task with precision and focus and without a pause. My Audubon field guide says that the Eastern Gray Squirrel mates in mid-winter, that they usually den in a tree cavity in the spring but their second of the season nest may be a leaf nest. Since its early June, I suppose 'usually' is a key word here.

My observations ended when she finished her work and quietly exited on the otherside of the nest. And I'll show you why I'm so curious and wishing for some magical piece of equipment that might allow observation without intrusion. The nest is so accessible. When I took the image below, I was standing about ten feet from the tree, the nest located only about 35 feet high in an immature oak of small diameter. The nest is the dark green triangle near the top of the image.

And if I turn 45 degrees to my left or east, you see my patio. The nest is just outside my window.

Most of the time we pay little attention to squirrels. They're part of the ordinary, seen almost daily and often considered a nuisance. But I developed a different perspective on their lives while observing Red-shouldered hawks. And now this nest outside my window has offered me another.

Another Incredible Nest Builder

This wasn't what I expected at all when I looked up in the tree. I heard a lot of rattling going on and expected to see a large bird, maybe bark falling. But instead I found a squirrel.
She was busy building a nest, called a drey, and once again I watched fresh limb harvesting, a single minded effort that was carried out with such efficiency and tenacity that I stood in awe as I watched. I thought, if only I carried out every task that lay ahead of me with that kind of decisive energy.
Selecting a limb a short distance from the nest, she knawed it loose and carried it back to the nest to weave it into place. I waited for her return, wishing all the while that I could see how she was doing this. As soon as she came out she headed for the next likely limb, making her decision quickly. Some were harder to cut loose than others. Finally, with the limb free, she begins the job of maneuvering it back to the nest.
More about her harvesting skills, next post.