Nest Check Observations, Houston

[Guest]

Yesterday I lowered three of my houses for nest checks. The fourth house, a Trio Grandpa, would not slide all the way down the pole. It kept getting hung up on the joint. Anyway, out of the three that I did get down, I counted a total of 84 chicks at various ages and one nest that still had 6 eggs in it. I estimate, based on the observed activity, that the 3rd house should have between 20 and 30 chicks. That would put my total at between 110 and 120 chicks, in my second year as a landlord.

Now on to the other observations.

All Troyer Horizontal gourds (4) were occupied with plenty of room for young of all ages.
5 of 15 Supergourds were occupied with plenty of room for young of all ages. The lower occupancy rate I attribute to 12 Supergourds on a new rack erected this year.
4 of 4 Natureline gourds were occupied and appeared to have plenty of room. However nest checks are a pain because there is not an overhead hatch door like the Troyers and the Supergourds. You must use a flash light to look in.
2 of 4 compartments in the Coates Suites were occupied. The other 2 were claimed by Sparrows.
4 of 6 enlarged Trio Compartments were occupied, 2 were claimed by Sparrows.
The last house with 6 enlarged Trio compartments and 4 Naturelines gourds could not be lowered.

The one major observation which concerns me is the lack of space in the aluminum housing when the young birds get large. Even in the modified Trios and the Coates Suites, they seem very cramped. I think any aluminum housing should be at least 6x12 with no dividers. Also it is hard to keep sparrows away from aluminum housing, I don't care how hard you try. In gourds, it takes them alot longer to build a nest, giving you more time to catch them.

[Matt F.]

Great report Kel!

You bring up a great point about the 6"X12" compartments. Though having the two 6"X6" chambers per cavity is better from a predator protection standpoint, I agree, it still must get very cramped as the nest is still contained in a small, 6"X6" chamber.
The 6"X12" compartments with no dividers does seem to give mom, dad, and the fat little babies more room to spread out.

[Guest]

Matt:

I was amazed at the amount of bird flesh and feathers stuffed into a 6x6 when I looked in. Probably one reason that fewer birds are fledged from small compartments, even if they are enlarged and divided.

Kurt