Tag: nest

In Which I Learn a Little Something New

July 23rd, 2019

I tend to think of nests as belonging to birds, but they are not the only creatures who build them. I was reminded of that fact the other day when I saw a squirrel disappear into its nest. I hadn’t known that squirrels build nests. Live and learn!

I stopped to take a look at the squirrel’s home, which I have since learned is called a drey. This particular drey was about halfway up a big old holly tree. It looked like a big wad of leaves had somehow gotten stuck in the branches of the tree, yet there was clearly a design to the mass of foliage as the squirrel was able to go inside it.

I found a few great links on this topic, which I hope you will have time to check out. The first is a two-and-a-half-minute video from BBC Earth, which shows a mother squirrel building her drey and then it shows baby squirrels inside their home! It’s fabulous! The second link is to a New York Times piece on how squirrels build their nests. The third is an article from my hometown paper, The Washington Post, for even more about squirrels’ dreys. Enjoy!

XOXO,
Bernice
Summer 2019 Goals – an Update

May 7th, 2019

Baltimore Orioles are another type of migratory bird on the way north for the breeding season. They will depart again for their winter territories as early as July, so keep an eye on the treetops for bright orange feathers in the next couple of months!

I don’t know about you, but when I think of birds’ nests, I usually think of a sort of bowl made of twigs. Yet not all nests are shaped that way.

Orioles weave distinctive nests, which hang from tree branches like little purses. If you see a little sack made of plant fibers hanging from a branch high in a treetop, you can be pretty sure you are looking at the nest of an oriole.

A female oriole knits a new nest every year, so if you spotted one of these special nests when the trees had no leaves over the winter, you won’t be able to simply return to that nest to see a Baltimore Oriole’s current nesting sight. These birds do, however, sometimes use old nests to collect material to build their new ones, so you might want to check anyway – maybe you’ll get lucky and spot one of these orange and black birds gathering supplies for the new breeding season.

I found a couple of terrific links explaining oriole nest construction. One is a video from the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism which shows how a Baltimore Oriole builds its nest. The other is a podcast from BirdNote on the same topic. Both are about two minutes long. If you have time to spare, you should definitely check the links out!

Last week I mentioned my summer 2019 goal of finding a hummingbird nest. I am adding finding a Baltimore Oriole’s nest to my list. I’ll be sure to let you know if I find either one!

How about you? Do you have any summer birding goals?

XOXO,
Bernice
My Hunt for Tiny Treasure

April 30th, 2019

Ruby-throated hummingbirds were named for the look of the male birds’ necks, which are spangled with shiny red feathers. When I see a male ruby-throated hummingbird in good light, I think his throat looks just like Dorothy’s ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz.

I have seen quite a few ruby-throated hummingbirds over the years, but do you know what I have never seen? I have never seen a ruby-throated hummingbird’s nest. And I have searched hard for one!

Hummingbird nests are made using spider webs. A female hummingbird builds with fibrous plant matter and then glues it all together with sticky spider silk. Isn’t that so clever?

The nests these three-inch-long birds build are teeny-tiny and therefore hard to find. It would be easy to overlook a hummingbird nest, thinking it was nothing but an inconsequential bump on a tree branch. To make things even more challenging, the nests are inhabited when trees are covered in leaves, so the little nests are most-likely hidden behind a curtain of greenery.

I will, however, not be daunted! I plan to continue my search for a ruby-throated hummingbird’s nest this year. Wish me luck, okay? I will need it!

In the meantime, I plan to re-watch this delightful two-minute video from the folks at PBS Nature, which shows a female hummingbird building a nest. If you have the time, you should definitely check it out!

XOXO,
Bernice
Grand Theft Nest

February 26th, 2019

Some birds build their nests. Some birds use abandoned nests other birds have built. I am going to give the latter category of bird the benefit of the doubt and assume that when they move into a found nest, they usually think it is uninhabited.

Louisa and I have been watching the National Arboretum Bald Eagle Nest Cam quite a lot and a couple of red-tailed hawks have recently been eyeing the bald eagles’ nest with the seeming intent of taking it for themselves. Scoundrels! It seems to me that the hawks know darned well the nest is not vacant.

Can you imagine how outraged the eagles must be? They designed, built and have maintained their nest for years. How irritating it must be to have to defend it from would-be thieves (don’t worry if you missed the livestream footage of the eagles defending their home – there is a video on YouTube you can still see).

Long ago I saw a similar scene: two downy woodpeckers came home to find their nest occupied by two tufted titmice. Alas, the woodpeckers appeared to be on the losing end of that conflict. From what I witnessed the tufted titmice were not going to move out. How frustrating it must have been for the woodpeckers to need to go peck a new nesting-cavity out of a different tree. Hopefully their new home was better than the one they lost – a possible silver lining. A girl can always hope!
Giraffe’s Eye View

January 8th, 2019

I am sure it will come as a huge surprise that I find baby birds absolutely adorable. I know… I know… kittens, puppies, hatchlings: it’s so unusual to find these creatures cute! I am a real outlier here, folks!

I am sixteen feet tall, did you know that? My height gives me a big advantage when it comes to finding and observing baby birds. I am often able to see right into nests. Some birds build their homes way too far up in the treetops for me to see into, but an awful lot of birds build at or below my line of sight.

The other day I stopped by a pine tree some blue jays nested in last year. The nest is still there, though it is not occupied at the moment. I wonder if the blue jays will return in the Spring? I’ll keep you posted!

Last year the mama blue jay laid four speckled eggs in early May. I stopped by every day for almost three weeks to see if the chicks had pecked their way out of their shells yet and then one day they finally did! There were four naked, shaky, teensy baby birds huddled together where the eggs had been.

The mama and papa brought food to the nest many times a day to feed the hatchlings. Blue jays love nuts and insects. I watched the papa feed his chicks a few fat caterpillars one day.

Blue Jays grow quickly. After a few weeks their feathers grew in and the hatchlings were easily recognizable as the blue jays they were. They all left the nest three short weeks after they hatched. But what a glorious three weeks those were! I was lucky enough to be able to watch them grow into strong birds who were ready to spread their wings and fly.