Bird Nests & 7 Common Misconceptions

Cartoon credit: Prawny from Pixabay

Bird nests are pretty amazing. For starters, different bird types build different types of nests. Where they build them, what they build them of, and other details such as how long it takes a particular type of bird to build its particular type of nest and how long that bird uses that nest is information I'm still learning. While some birds nest in more open or accessible places, many birds build nests we will unlikely ever see under normal circumstances.

Since this is a topic I'm still acquiring knowledge about, I figured others might be curious, too, so I'm sharing. Let's start with some common misconceptions that I had to learn while developing my birding hobby.

1. Birds live in nests - WRONG! Birds only build nests to lay and incubate their eggs. Birds do not live year-round in nests. The nesting season in the Northern Hemisphere is

   from about April to August, with different birds mating and producing eggs along that span of time. I recently learned, for instance, that the American Goldfinch is the latest mating bird in my part of the world, doing so in late July and through August. American Goldfinch do not migrate so it's not so important for them to mate early -- some migratory birds are close to departing by late August.

   

   Photo by Ben Mullins on Unsplash

   
   

2. All birds will make nests in bird boxes (a.k.a. bird houses) - Nope! Though birdwatchers would love for all birds to make nests in bird boxes, most do not. Birds that build nests in boxes look for tight cavities into which they can tuck away and be protected. Birds in our area that DO make nests in bird boxes include Chickadees, House Wrens, Tree Swallows, Eastern Bluebirds, and Old World (non-North American in origin) House Sparrows and European Starlings. Additionally, there are special boxes with larger holes designed for Wood Ducks and "collective" houses or gourds used by Purple Martins.

   
   

3. All birds make their nests from dried grass and straw - Hardly! You might be in awe of all the things birds make their nests from, and different birds rely on different materials. For instance, our local Robins (American Robins) use twigs, grass, dried leaves, and mud, and they line these nests with finer materials. Chickadees use green moss, bark peelings, and animal fur, while Mourning Doves and House Wrens primarily rely on sticks. (It's actually quite amusing to watch a tiny House Wren wrestle with a stick three times larger than its body length to try to get it into the hole of the cavity in which it's trying to build its nest!) Blue birds will build nests from pine needles, tall grass, or a mix, and Hummingbirds build nests with plant fibers, feathers, lichens, moss and bind it all together with spider web to allow the nest with its tiny eggs to expand as the chicks are born and grow. Remarkable, right? If you want to help birds with their springtime nest-building, don't be so quick to remove all your yard debris. Your nuisance is a bird's baby crib!

   

   
   

4. All Northern Delaware-area birds nest in trees - Wrong again! Though many of our local birds do nest in trees -- and oftentimes tall, mature trees -- not all do. Many folks have had the experience of a Robin or a Mourning Dove nesting in their door wreaths or atop their front door coach lights. Some people may have had House Finches build nests inside open light fixtures, and if you tend to leave your garage door open all the time, chances are that one of these birds may nest inside there, too. Less well known are the birds that don't make their nests in our backyards. There is the Ovenbird, which actually gets its name from its forest floor covered nest: "The dome and side entrance make it resemble a Dutch oven;" the Worm-eating Warbler, the Louisiana Waterthrush (which nests are open cups made of eaves, moss, twigs, bark; and lined with fine rootlets, ferns, grass stems, and hair, "concealed in roots of upturned tree, near water, under overhanging banks of streams, or in hollow of rocky ravine;" and Kentucky Warbler, which nests on the ground or a few inches above it, "at foot of shrub, in grass tussocks, bedstraw, or goldenrod, or sometimes in the lowest fork of small trees."

   
   

5. Only woodpeckers live in holes in trees. Actually, though it's true that woodpeckers nest in holes they drill into trees, they aren't the only birds -- or critters, for that matter -- that nest in the holes they drill. After woodpeckers complete a nesting cycle, the cavity they drill in a tree might be occupied by other bird species like Eastern Screech Owls, American Kestrel, Northern House Wren, Tufted Titmouse, and Northern Saw-Whet Owls. Even Gray Squirrels may take over an abandoned cavity to build their nests as well.

   
   

   

   Image courtesy of Dreamstime

   
   

6. Touching a baby bird by a human, for example, if one found alive on the ground beneath an obvious nest, will cause the parents to reject it if you put it back in the nest. This isn't true. Birds do not reject young by a smell on it. What you do need to be careful about is returning a young bird to a nest when the nest has already been abandoned by the parents. There's a difference between a nestling and a fledgling. Fledglings may look incapable, but they can fly short distances and hop around. They are still dependent upon their parents to feed them, however, so moving them far from their parents may lead to negative consequences. If you come across a fledgling, just leave it alone.

   This adorable Northern Cardinal fledgling really took a shine to me, following me around and almost winding up inside my car!

7. It's OK to trim or remove my trees during bird nesting season. No, it's really not. Think of it this way: How would you feel if a tornado or a house fire destroys the home of a woman in her last trimester of pregnancy? That is what it's like to remove trees or tree limbs from April to August here in the northeast: you're destroying the home -- and probably the babies of -- our wild birds at a time when their entire populations are under pressure and in decline. Depending on their size, birds take 10 days to hatch and fledge, so they have a very short window in which to successfully reproduce. These limited reproduction cycles present yet another challenge to bird populations bouncing back without the unnatural destruction of their homes impeding the way as well. Responsible tree companies should know what to do if they encounter a populated bird nest in the tree they need to remove -- for instance, here in Delaware, native baby birds can be taken to Tri-State Bird Rescue for care and rewilding -- but many tree companies are not all that responsible. They are under no obligation to care for the birds, which is an additional burden to them, so they just don't. It's one of the reasons why I cringe at the sound of chainsaws during the nesting season, and, honestly, most homeowners don't even realize or think about this aspect of their property. I hope this gives just a few folks new pause before they take any tree removal action at this time of year.

Now that you've learned a little bit about how, when, and where birds nest, keep your eye out for where else birds spend time, especially when it's not nesting season. Hmmm, perhaps I'll do a post about that in the future! 😉