Monday, May 21, 2007

Nuthatch Update

It appears that the brown-headed nuthatches may attempt a second brood this nesting season. Last week we observed them excavating a cavity high in a maple snag (dead tree) in the backyard. Then they appeared to leave it alone for a few days. Today they are busily bringing nesting material to the cavity. According to the Birds of North America, it is very rare for this species to double brood and few cases of double brooding have been recorded. We will have to keep an eye on this pair to see if they will actually lay a second clutch.

Here is the video I made yesterday morning that confirmed our suspicions of nest building, in one segment you will see one of the nuthatches bring a piece of bark to the cavity that takes quit a bit of work and maneuvering to get it inside!



Added note: We saw at least 1 of the fledglings from the last brood, possible 2 of them over the weekend with the adults. You can distinguish the immature nuthatches from the adults by their grayish heads and lack of the white marking on the nape of the neck.