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I recently filled our bird feeders for the first time in quite a few years. We have a neighbor that supposedly loves cats and believes that her neighbors feel the same way is planning to move.
We quit feeding the birds because her cats would sit at our feeders, waiting for a meal. We would find tell-tale signs of dead birds and feathers
The filled feeder immediately attracted a pair of chickadees and after feeding, they began checking out a nearby bird house. It was late April, and I thought this was early for nesting. The chickadees made many trips to the bird house, but after several days, we saw no sign of activity.
On the May 10, I was about to clean out the box and much to my surprise, a chickadee flew out.
Birds have been busy gathering supplies to build their nests and giving chase to larger birds, such as crows, that get too close to nest sites. There are as many different types of nests as there are species of birds. The location where a bird decides to build its nest is very important.
The nests of many songbirds need to be hidden from predators, therefore the materials used must camouflage the nests. The nests must also be built in areas that will give protection from storms, extreme cold and excessive heat.
Birds that lay eggs that will hatch in a short period of time (usually two weeks) are altricial, meaning that the young are born in a relatively helpless state. In altricial birds, the nest is a protective nursery, where the young are provided with warmth and food by their parents. At hatching, altricial birds are naked and have eyes closed.
An exception to this rule is the young of herons, hawks and owls, which are covered with down when hatched. However of those birds mentioned, only the owls are hatched with their eyes open.
These altricial young nestlings usually spend approximately two weeks in the nest, where they are protected by the parents. There are birds, such as hummingbirds, kingbirds and martins, known for their attacks on larger birds, such as hawks and crows. A crow simply flying too close to a nest will soon have the parents dive bombing to drive the crow away from their nest site. Different species of birds will often join in the chase to drive the intruder away.
Young birds that leave the nest shortly after being born are said to be precocial, which comes from the Latin word praecox, meaning to ripen beforehand. These young birds will develop inside the egg and won't hatch for almost a month. The young are called chicks and can move about soon after hatching and drying.
They are either partly or not at all dependent on their parents for food. These chicks hatch with their eyes open; covered with down and will leave the nest within a few hours. An exception to this is that some gull and tern chicks will remain in the nest for a few days after hatching.
There is an interesting connection between the weight of the yolk of the egg and the condition of the young at hatching. In altricial nestling, the egg yolk is 15-25% of the egg's weight. In a precocial chick, the yolk can be up to 50% of the egg's weight. Due to the precocial chick being in the egg stage longer, the chick will need the extra food the egg provides.
Young birds that remain in or at the nest and cared for by the parents are said to be nidicolous, which comes from two Latin words: nidus meaning a nest and colere meaning inhabit. Since the nestlings will spend time in the nest, a nest needs to be well constructed and camouflaged. Most nests are built in trees where they are safe from ground predators.
The nests of precocial chicks are usually found on the ground. Their protection is that they can run, hide and feed themselves shortly after being hatched. These chicks are said to be nidifugous, which also comes from two Latin words: nidus meaning nest and fugere meaning to flee.
The number of eggs in a nest is called a clutch. As a rule, the average number of eggs laid by songbirds tends to increase as the birds move north This is very strange since last year a female chickadee laid her eggs in the same box and abandoned them. Usually, a songbird will lay more eggs in her first nest of the season and a smaller number of eggs in her second or third nests.
Some birds are determinate egg-layers, laying only a certain number of eggs and not replacing those eggs removed from their nests. Other birds are indeterminate layers, meaning that they will continue to lay eggs to replace those removed from their nests.
In one study done, a yellow-shafted flicker had 71 eggs removed in 73 days.
In late May 2024, I found six eggs laid by a black-capped chickadee in a backyard bird house and when I checked a few days later I found that the female had abandoned the eggs. Several days later, after noticing a wasp flying near the bird house, I went to check, and found the eggs were gone but a new nest was being built on top of the old nest.
This was very strange since, in a previous year, a female chickadee laid her eggs in the same box and abandoned them.
This is an excellent time to watch our birds, while gathering nesting materials.