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No Birds Nesting Yet After All

chickadeemelrose

16 years ago

Hi folks,

Well over a week ago I saw a chickadee tossing out little bits of grass (that I left in there for winter) from our birdhouse (that wrens nested in last summer), and he seemed pretty busy doing that so I figured he had chosen the house for nesting. I was so excited. I watched him from a distance and saw him go into the house and back out again, it was fun.

Yesterday I did my first "nestbox check" and I opened the side of the box to find...nothing but the grass. No nest. Just the grass I left in the box before winter.

I took the grass out figuring maybe it would be better for the box to be empty. I really have no idea (as you can tell). Any thoughts or advice? Should I have waited longer before checking the box? And was I right to remove the grass?

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Comments (6)

jannd
16 years ago
Just recently I read a short piece on nesting behavior about (if memory serves) chickadees, saying that the male prepares several nest sites and then lets the female choose among them. I'm not certain it was the chickadee referenced, but if so, that could be your explanation.
crcst
16 years ago
chickadees don't do that,it's the house wren male that places sticks in the boxes waiting for the female to choose a nest site......Jane
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chickadeemelrose
Original Author
16 years ago
I checked on this, and depending on what source you read, it can be confusing. Wild-bird-watching says that the chickadees do indeed choose from several sites; but the Cornell Lab, and Sialis, do not say anything about that at all, they both indicate that "a nest" is excavated.

I appreciate the input on this. One thing I did learn from the reading was that it might be good to put some wood shavings/chips in the nestbox. I'll try that.
bandjzmom
16 years ago
Oh, I can give you some first hand knowledge on the little Carolina Chickadees in my yard!! About a month ago, I noticed that they had already built a full nest inside one of my little birdhouses. Now, they seem to be unable to make up their minds about where they want to nest. They have been in and out of every little house that I have hanging.I have personally seen them in 7 of the houses.
They are leaving little pieces of green moss in each house. I assumed that this must be a territorial issue. I figured that they must be leaving the moss in each house to discourage any other pair of Carolina Chickadees from nesting there. Just my thoughts tho. I still don't know what they will finally choose.
chickadeemelrose
Original Author
16 years ago
I should have said before, that the chickadees we have here are black-capped chickadees. Anyway, through a search I did look at Sialis again, and it did actually say in the chickadee writeup that chickadees do visit numerous sites before choosing one for a nest. So, it may be that "my" little chickadee was visiting the house, throwing some grass out in the process, and moved on to the next possibility (sort of like "House Hunters").

These little critters are so funny, I know there are always reasons for what they do but they crack me up sometimes. I do hope they choose my birdhouse though.:)
bandjzmom
16 years ago
Hi Melrose, I just put up a BB box which I was lucky enough to happen upon in a thrift store. I believe that my Carolina Chickadees have finally chosen it. I saw them going in and out yesterday. When I checked the box, I saw that they were bringing in bits of toilet paper (from my pear tree..residual from neighbor kids rolling the yard)mixed with their trademark moss. I just cracked up! Toilet paper...of all things. :o)

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