Brown-headed Nuthatch Happenings in My Yard, Part 1 of 2
Folks,
Some of you may recall my EMAS post of April 9 sharing the excitement and good
fortune of having a nest box of Brown-headed Nuthatches in my yard, a first!
In that post, I had photos of the birds gathering nesting materials, delivering
them to the nest box for use in construction, birds visiting my feeder, and
other photos. For the record, BHN typically lay 3-7 eggs, roughly 0.6-0.7
inches long by 0.4-0.6 wide. Incubation lasts about 14 days performed by the
female, while the male brings food to the female at the nest. Young leave the
nest in 18-19 days (AllAboutBirds). I knew eggs had successfully hatched when
I began to see parents bringing very small bits of food to the nest on April
28. As a record of some of the activities that followed, I have attached
photos including: parents bringing food to the nest, food exchange between
parents, an instance of parents defending the nest against intruders, nest
housekeeping chores, photos of the birds flying about the yard or just
hanging out, and finally nest comparison between BHN and Eastern Bluebird.
One disappointing outcome of the event was not being at home when fledging
occurred. Fledging apparently occurred around May 14-15 when I happened to be
away from my house for a couple of days, wouldn't you know it! When I returned
home parents were no longer bringing food to the nest and activity had ceased.
When I examined the nest box, it was empty except for one unhatched egg that a
apparently was not fertile? I assume/hope the chicks that were receiving food
fledged successfully.
The attached photos correspond to short explanations for each, seen below. For
the strict scientific minds out there please excuse the use of some
anthropomorphic descriptions of what the birds might have been doing/thinking
in each photo.
Photos:
1. Proud parents-to-be surveying the landscape.
2. One of hundreds of food flights to the nest box by parents.
3. What goes in must come out. Bird below with food awaits the exiting bird
from nest with chick waste.
4. The beauty of flight captured as nuthatch flies near the nest box with
wings spread.
5. Very upset and irate nuthatch getting after Red-bellied Woodpecker. It
landed on top of the nest box which wasn't taken kindly by nuthatches. Over
the course of several days other birds landed on the nest box-- blue bird,
white-breasted nuthatch, red-winged blackbird, and woodpecker. Each time the
nuthatches flew into action and mobbed them. The nest box was about 25 feet
from my feeder, probably not a good location between the two, as bird traffic
to-and-from feeder was heavy at times.
6. Altercation between nuthatch and RB Woodpecker. This could have resulted
in a nuthatch fatality! So close!
7. Food exchange between nuthatches. Both parents help feed the young and in
some situations other adults in the area have been known to assist with
feeding, so I have read. I did not see this occur.
8. Another feeding foray. Achieving sharp focus of flying bird required
persistence and some luck. (Photo Next Post)
9. After the chicks have fledged and gained independence the parents are
likely exhausted. This one appears to be taking a needed "rest". Actually I
think it was probably preening. (Photo Next Post)
10. Nest comparison between BHN and Eastern Bluebird. I mentioned there was
one egg left in the nuthatch nest and I happened to have a bluebird nest in my
yard that also had one egg after fledging. Both nests were in a box designed
for bluebirds, but the nest hole for the nuthatch was modified to make it
smaller. I thought the comparison of nesting materials and egg size and color
was interesting. (Photo Nest Post)
Hope you enjoy the photos and good birding,
Alan LenkAsheville
Photo notes for those interested: Digital SLR camera with 150-600mm lens was
place on a tripod and pre-focused on the entrance hole using manual focus mode,
about 20 feet away from nest box. Best times for shooting was overcast days
or before/after bright sun like early morning or late afternoon. Fill flash
was used to add and even out light. Shutter speed was 1/4000-5000sec. to
eliminate wing blur. F-stop was 7 or 8, exposure in manual mode. The field of
view through camera was roughly 5-6 feet in front the nest to increase odds of
getting bird in photo. When a bird was seen flying toward nest, shutter was
depressed and held to get off several shots. Keeper rate and sharp focus was
very low. Depth of field was minimal requiring bird to be in sweet spot to be
in sharp focus. It's a lot of fun doing this kind of photography but it
requires a good bit of time over several days. I don't mind waiting for
nature to unfold and maybe capture it!
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