One pair, two nests

[Charles B]

I have a single adult pair that I believe has decided to stay. But they can't seem to make up their minds just which gourd they prefer--sleeping some nights in one gourd and other nights in the adjacent gourd. That part I was used to. But now they have started making nests in both gourds. Sometimes the male will bring leaves to one, while the female brings them to the other. And sometimes the reverse. Here is the male bringing a leaf to the gourd on the left in Camera 7, while the female is tidying up the gourd to the right.

Sometimes they bring leaves together to one gourd or the other. I don't think I ever noticed this behavior in my previous pair.

I do remember an Eastern Phoebe that one day built her mud nest on a blade of the ceiling fan on my front porch. The next day I found an identical nest on a second blade. Finally, after four days and four separate nests I realized that the wind was blowing the blades around to different positions, so I fixed them in place with a bungee cord. She proceeded to finish one of the nests and raise a family.

Birds sure are interesting, huh?

Charles

[lynnh]

An Asy pair built 2 complete nests top and bottom in a 3 hole unit in 1 of my T-14s last year but she only laid eggs in the top one.A week or so later an sy pair claimed the bottom 1 added some green leaves and went to work and raised a healthy family of 5.To me its just one of natures neat little mysteries Lynn.

[DebA]

I loved your story on the Eastern Phoebe. Too cute.
Deb

[Charles B]

I loved your story on the Eastern Phoebe.

Thanks. Phoebes are my second most favorite birds. Here are a picture of the nests on the fan and a picture of the babies a few days later.
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz15 ... 296781.jpg
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz15 ... 2a38be.jpg

But that's not my only Phoebe saga. When I was making an addition to my barn, the carpenter told me that there was a bird nest with baby birds right on top of a beam we would be taking down.
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz15 ... b98a51.jpg

I had three choices: to stop the construction, tear down the nest, or try a heroic rescue. I settled on the third option. We built a jury-rigged platform and nailed it under the part of the beam that would remain.
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz15 ... 9b7eb2.jpg
Then I borrowed my wife's spatula, scraped the mud nest up like a sunny-side-up egg, and moved it to the platform--babies and all.
http://i823.photobucket.com/albums/zz15 ... 1711cd.jpg
Mama and babies survived the ordeal, and we went ahead with the barn addition. They fledged a few days later.