Something New from Something Old!

Last December I posted the photo, on the left, of a Robin's nest, and said that I would check back on it in the Spring.  Well here's a photo I took of the same nest yesterday.  I'm not sure if it just fell apart during this past heavy winter, or if the Robins have reused 

the nesting material for a new nest.  

I should have been more observant!

  

Since I got back from the desert, I've been out scouting for birds and bird nests.  Here's what I've found so far!

Old Bullock's Oriole Nests from last year

I spotted these two old Oriole Nests adjacent to each other in two different locust trees.  Right now there aren't any leaves or flowers on the locust trees, so these nests were easy to spot.  I haven't seen a Baltimore Oriole yet, but I got this picture of a female last Spring.  Females gather plant fibers, horse hair, and even fishing line and weave them into intricate hanging pouches for their eggs!  One nest, I found last year, also had thin strips of blue plastic tarp and rug fibers woven together!  I don't know if they will re-use or recycle these old nests.  I'll be sure to keep checking on them!

Bullock's Oriole (female) - Icterus bullockii

Northern Flicker (male) drumming on stove cap
Colaptes auratus

There have been a few Northern Flickers here all winter, but lots more have arrived in the past few weeks.  The males have been loudly calling and drumming, declaring their territory, on the metal cap of my neighbor's stove pipe!  They create quite a racket!  Flickers excavate nests in the trunks of dead or live trees. It takes both the male and female working together for 1 to 2 weeks, to make a new nest.  The entrance hole is approximately 3" wide.  The nesting cavity can be 13" - 16" deep!  Sometimes flickers will re-use an old nest, rather than make a new one.  European Starlings sometimes drive Flickers from their nest!  Starlings are not native to the United States.  They were introduced from Europe in the late 1800's, and have spread throughout North America.  In some areas, they have caused a decline in the native Northern Flicker populations!  I haven't found any nests yet, but hopefully I will!

Northern Flicker (female) & European Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
(The lack of red on the head indicates that this is a female Flicker.
Male and female Starlings, however, are undifferentiated in appearance.)

Hairy Woodpecker (male) & Hairy Woodpecker (female)

(note the lack of red feathers on the back of the female's head)

Leuconotopicus villosus

I took these photos 3 years ago, when a pair of Hairy Woodpeckers nested on our property!  The following year, they didn't return to their nest, but I still see them in our neighborhood.  Like the Northern Flickers, both the male and female Hairy Woodpeckers work together to excavate their nesting site.  It usually takes them 1 to 2 weeks to complete their nest, in a dead tree trunk or a large dead branch. Unfortunately, European Starlings have been known to take over Hairy Woodpecker nests.  A friend of mine found a dead tree on the ground, with an empty Hairy Woodpecker nest inside!  He cut it in half, to see how far down the nest cavity went!  Amazing isn't it!!!!

Old Hairy Woodpecker nest, cut in half lengthwise, displaying nest cavity

Steller's Jay (female) - Cyanocitta stelleri

(Females are usually the ones that incubate the eggs.)

Like most members of the Corvid family, Steller's Jays mate for life!  Both 

male and female build a new nest every year of twigs, dried grasses, and weeds, 

cemented together with mud.  They are very secretive about their nests, and stay quiet while they are near it!  I found this nest surprisingly visible in an alder tree near our creek, a few years ago.  I haven't found any occupied nests yet, but I am on the look out!

What other birds are going to show up soon?  

Are there other birds, besides European Starlings, that are a threat to native birds?

How long does it take for bird eggs to hatch?  

How long does it take for baby birds to fledge?

Is it usually the female bird that incubates the eggs? 

Check back next week for the answers 

to these questions and more!