by Pat Jaquith
pat@westvalleynaturalists.org
Editor’s Note: The smaller images on this page my be enlarged by clicking on them.
Part I focuses on some of the local birds that raise their offspring in cavities, that is, holes in trees, man-made house-like structures, and holes in earthen areas. Part II will cover some of the birds I have discovered raising their young in more exposed locations. I marvel at their ability to overcome the challenges that weather, predators, and life with dependents without physical barriers must present.
A Western Wood-Pewee fashioned a nest of grass, rootlets and bits of other natural material on a lichen-covered limb of a Douglas fir tree. There are many needle-laden branches overhead that provide shade and divert rain drops. When she returns to the nest, she always lands on a different branch and little by little approaches the nest site as if she doesn’t want to reveal the location to others. I had the unique opportunity to observe all of this in reverse. I was in the area to visit a plant I was studying. As I cast my gaze around the location so I could note landmarks to help me return, I noted “something looks different about this branch.” Indeed, the lump overhead looked like a little nest! At first, I wondered if the nest had overwintered. It was a few feet higher than I could reach, so I only could observe, not touch. As I continued to look up, movement caught my attention: it was the owner of the nest, intent on getting to the empty nest. I froze in place and before I could blink, the bird arrived. I paused just close enough to get a couple of pictures before abandoning the area. I returned several times that summer to monitor the plant;
I’d look to see if the bird was on the nest before getting close, but finding the well-camouflaged nest was never easy.
This Swainson’s Thrush had chosen a sapling right at the intersection of two trails for her nest. By luck, I caught sight of this motionless bird as I was making a decision about which way to turn! The cup is deep enough that only her head and neck protrude.
This little Redstart’s nest was well-concealed among lichen-encrusted branches near a wetland. The nest materials seemed to be dry gasses, birch bark bits, and fluff from cattails.
This Chipping Sparrow’s nest was in a thick shrub beside our driveway; I walked past it several times a day in summer. It was November and all the leaves had fallen before I actually saw it! I knew they “must” be nesting there because of all the activity I had observed but I hadn’t investigated. That’s an interesting assortment of vines, twigs, and stems; I recognize many of them as things I had pruned off plants in the area!
The Red-eyed Vireo nest is recognizable by its neat construction details and the way they always position it in the crotch of a small branch. They wrap bits of birch bark and spider web around small forked branches to attach this suspended nest and weave more bits of bark into the precisely woven cup. I walked past both of these nests often, but I waited until October one year when I was sure the family was long gone before I went close! The handiwork reminds me of methods that I’ve seen in the work on some indigenous artifacts. These two nests were deciduous trees many miles apart.
In keeping with the size of the bird and possible 2 or 3 offspring, this Osprey built a nest of pieces of cottonwood branches in the top of a cottonwood snag. Ospreys often re-use the same nest site for several years, adding new branches each year. The open top of power poles can be an inviting place for an osprey to nest. Due to all the problems that resulted, power companies erect nesting platforms nearby to avoid costly repairs and even electrocution of the birds.
In contrast to the immense Osprey nest, little hummingbirds make a tiny cup-shaped nest for their jellybean-sized eggs. One of their principal materials is spider web which they use for its elasticity and tensile strength.
Robins make a rather messy-looking nest of grass and mud. I learned that the male robin is the principal builder, and he gets himself covered with mud! He used to the water pan in our yard for his bath frequently, and the water needed to be changed after he had been there!
I found this intact Robin’s egg near a hiking trail – no nest in sight, no birds around. Various birds like Crows, Ravens, and Hawks are known to steal from other birds’ nests. When I spotted this robins’-egg-blue object, I expected to find 1/2 of an empty eggshell that a parent had removed and carried away from its nest.
The nestling robins at right lived over the entrance to our porch. We had swept up messy nesting materials and discouraged the construction, but the Robins were more persistent than we! These hatchlings were pretty young: wisps of feathers had just begun to grow and eyes hadn’t opened. The parents had been very busy delivering worms and caterpillars to those big gapes!
A pair of Townsend’s Solitaires chose a 4-inch ledge outcropping near the garage entrance for their nest site in 2015. They had the foundation done by the time we realized what was planned.
15 days later: they had collected enough grass to make a comfortable-looking cup; the female spent a long time on the nest every day for 7 days before we noticed this beautiful first egg! It was very disappointing when we came out on day 8 and found bits of nest materials scattered on the ground and the egg missing. Ravens that were nesting in the neighborhood had recently been begun frequent fly-overs; though we had no proof, we suspected them as the culprits.
The Solitaires continued to come to the yard for water and serenades on the garden fence. Later in the summer we observed the female at the water pan with a very disheveled-looking juvenile! They had persisted and produced one offspring!
Ground Nesters
In early June, I came upon this nest of carefully arranged eggs in thick grass. The parent of these (probable) future ducklings had a used this body-sized depression in the grass, arranged the eggs in a body-sized group where it would be convenient to settle in and incubate them. A little pond downhill from this nest would be convenient for swimming lessons and quick evacuation in the near future.
Canada geese often nest on Cliff Lake in Pig Farm. They build up a nest of the previous year’s reeds so that it is higher than the water level and quite concealed from afar. The gander patrols the pond area where he can keep an eye on their nest while the goose incubates the eggs. One year we found fresh remains of a goose egg on the ground up on the overlook over Cliff Lake. A Bald Eagle could be a likely suspect.
The nest is used for keeping the goslings warm and safe for some time, but they become good swimmers very early.
6.27.23: Red-necked Grebes were starting to incubate eggs. They wait until the reeds are big enough to harvest for making a floating raft-like nest above the water. I was lucky to be there early in the construction job. They would cut off some reeds, gather up a mouthful, and paddle over to the place where they piled them. If you look closely, you can see Painted turtles that are sharing the Grebes’ raft.
My grandson and I were walking along the stony edge of Bowser Lake in late June, 2022 looking at dragonflies, deer tracks, and the different-colored stones when he called to me, “I think this looks like eggs!” Sure enough, that’s a Kildeer nest. The really unusual thing was that the three Kildeer around there were ignoring us! Usually, Kildeer make a great fuss of calling, feigning injury, and even dive-bombing the intruder when someone gets near a nesting area. I guess that we should change “usually” to “sometimes!”
Many species of Sparrows are ground-nesters. Savannah Sparrows seem to find many places in the West Valley that fit their needs. As we walked through a lovely field of bunchgrass and wildflowers, several Savannah Sparrows defended “their” place – the bright yellow patch over their eye seemed to perfectly pair with the lovely yellow flowers in the meadow. Canola and Savannah Sparrows appears to be a good pairing, too. The Savannah Sparrows’ nestlings have fledged and are safely out of that dense planting that protects many nests before harvest time.
Turkeys seem very vulnerable as the hens often are left alone to keep do all the parenting. I was wading through thigh-high weeds and grass, focused on my own feet, when this hen must have blinked! It was a close call whether I might step on her! Despite my close encounter, she never moved – I did, though!
Sometimes several females will join together with their different-aged poults. Safety in numbers might be their plan. When a late nest of poults arrive in our neighborhood, the hen knows where to bring them – the edge of our lawn where the grasshopper crop is plentiful! They also love to take full advantage of the pan of water I leave out for birds. Unlike songbirds that come as much for a bath as for the drink, the turkeys seem to just drink – and fertilize the lawn!
We wish them all well! Birds are a welcome sight and their songs bring cheer. What would summer be without birds in the West Valley?
