Nesting Information

Here’s a chart to accompany last week’s, the information has been gleaned from several books and web sites, where I could, I cross referenced local reports to make it more applicable to the Maritime Provinces. Most of the books written are from more southern areas where birds may start nesting earlier and continue farther into the fall; birds in warmer climates may also have more broods than locally. I think this chart will be a handy reference for birders as well as those of you who ask, “How long will those Starlings (or other) be nesting in my eve? I want to fix the soffits and don’t want to disturb the nest.”

Species	Habitat	Nest material	Breeding period	Eggs Avg. (range)	Incubation days	Nestling days	Fledgling days	Brood per year
Black-capped Chickadee	Mixture of trees and open area.	Wood chips, moss, hair, cocoons, downy fibers.	May-July	6-8 (1-13)	12	16	7-14	1-2
Eastern Bluebird	Open area with short grass, today that means pasture, golf course, lawns	Fine grass, pine needles, weed stalks		4-5 (2-7)	12-18	17-22	14-28	1-2
Tree Swallow	Open area near or over water	Grasses lined with feathers	May-June	5-6 (2-8)	14-15	21	2-3	1
Red-breasted Nuthatch	Wooded with open spaces	Bark shreds, roots and grass lined with fur and fine feathers	May-July	5-6 (2-8)	12	14-21	7-14	1
House Finch	Near humans, urban or rural, sometimes on ledges and hanging baskets	Fine stems, leaves, rootlets, string, wool and feathers	April to July	4-6 (2-6)	14	12-19	35	1-3
American Kestrel	Open field or at edge of woods	No material added	april to June	4-5 (1-7)	30	30	14	1
Saw-whet Owl	Deep woods near swamp	No material added	March-July	5-6 (4-10)	26-28	28-33	Not known	1
Barred Owl	Woods or swamps urban or rural	No material added	March-July	2-3	28-33	28-49	Several weeks	1
Wood Duck	Swamps, shallow lakes hole facing water with no obstructions.	Wood chips lined with females own feathers	April to June	11-14 (6-40)	27-30	1	35	1-2
Downy Woodpecker	In or on the edge of woods	No material added	April to July	4-5 (3-8)	12	20-22	14-21	1
Hairy Woodpecker	In or on the edge of woods	No material added	April to June	4-6 (3-6)	11-12	28-30	Few days	1
Northern Flicker	In or on the edge of open woods	No material added	April to July	7-8 (5-9)	11-12	26	14-21	1-2
European Starling	Anywhere and everywhere	Grass, leaves, bark, string, trash, feathers	March-July	4-5 (2-6)	12	23	4-8	1-2
House Sparrow	Urban close to human activity	Grass, leaves, bark, cloth, feathers	March-August	4-6 (1-8)	12	15-17	7	2-3

There are relatively few birds that will use a house or cavity, the rest will nest in shrubs and trees, on the ground, or on platforms and shelves. Attracting some of these birds is easy, all you have to do is nothing. That is don’t mow areas of the lawn and birds like sparrow and junco will take advantage. It doesn’t have to be a large area either, last year I was late weeding the long grass that came up through one of those flat sprawling evergreen shrubs, it was about 2 feet across and a foot high, the grass added another foot to the height and the lawn was mowed right up to it. We had noticed a sparrow around it a lot so I was careful when I did go to weed, a Song Sparrow darted out and was very upset with me, I parted the grass and found a small nest with eggs. I left the grass until I noticed the young had fledged and the nest was no longer in use. This was right outside our door in one of the busiest areas in our yard, the path the dog made to the yard went right by the shrub, but none of this bothered them, she would only flush from the nest if you parted the grass directly above. I don’t think there was an bug that came within 25 feet of that nest that didn’t end up in the mouths of her young, she spent her day in a frenzy of gleaning all the plants and trees in the area.

If you happen to have a few acres that you only mow occasionally, consider doing so late in the season after birds have had a chance to nest and move on.

Shrubs may be the best component of your landscape when it comes to nesting birds, they not only provide nest sites but produce berries and attract insects for the birds to eat. Depending on your area you may not even have to plant these shrubs, we simply don’t mow right up to the woods and a great variety of shrubs volunteer along the edge. The area of lawn, rough shrubbery then woods is hugely attractive to birds. If you don’t border on the woods you may want to plant along the edge. You might as well plant things that are going to provide food for nestlings and then attract birds throughout the season right into the following spring. Right now we have waxwings and robins eating mountain ash, high-bush cranberry, stag-horn sumac and apples. Other shrubs that provide cover and food are: dogwood, mountain ash, hawthorn, cherry, rose and more. You should have taller trees interspersed throughout the yard as well for the birds that prefer to nest higher off the ground, birds are attracted to the cones and seeds of many evergreen and deciduous trees. (A tip on landscape planning that will cut energy costs, we lucked out with a row of very old, large maple trees on the south side of the house, in the winter the sun gets through and on clear days our house is heated for free, in the summer the leaves completely shade the house keeping it cool to the point I am accused of running an air conditioner. The evergreens we planted on the north and east side are beginning to give us shelter from the worst of the winter winds. So...deciduous on the south, evergreen on the north, saves you energy/money.)

There are a few birds that are attracted to platforms or shelves, these can be pole mounted or placed on or in buildings. Robins, Barn Swallows, Eastern Phoebe and Eastern Kingbird will take advantage of protrusions from buildings like window sills, porch lights, rain gutters or barn rafters. You may also place a small shelf, up to 7x7 inches, under the eave. Robins in particular would take a covered shelf, this looks like a bird house with no front.

Barn Swallows will attach their little half-round clay cup to a flat surface that is rough enough for them to attach, but they will appreciate a little shelf to get started. The shelf also give some assurance the nest won’t fall off half way through.

One of my favourite nest builders has to be the Cliff Swallow, they make those amazing clay nests that are totally covered over resembling a gourde slightly tipped to the side. Cliff Swallows have been known to accept a shelf to get things started, these can be a 1x4 board for the bottom with dividers spaced to give a 4x4 floor. The Cliff Swallows then only have to cover over the top and make the entrance. It’s hard to believe, but some intolerant people consider these birds pests and will wash the nests off their buildings. If you think you have a spot for Barn or Cliff Swallows it would be great, these species are declining in the area.