Female Bufflehead at Nest Cavity photo by Larry Jordan

Make sure you stop by 10000 Birds to read my latest West Coast Beat Writer post on the Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) as the female searches for nest cavities.  The post includes a great video showing hatchling Buffleheads leaping from a nest box!  Here is my video of the Bufflehead at Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens) photos by Larry Jordan

One of my favorite western cavity nesting birds is the Ash-throated Flycatcher (Myiarchus cinerascens).  By the end of this post I think you will know why (click on photos for full sized images).

Ash-throated Flycatchers nest in natural cavities in trees or cactus, or in man made nest boxes, or almost any natural or artificial cavity of the appropriate size.  They take to Bluebird nest boxes as easily as do the Tree Swallows.

Their nest is constructed primarily or entirely by the female of dry grasses, rootlets, weed stems and bits of dried cow or horse dung, lined with hair, fur, wool or feathers.

This is what the hatchlings look like on the first day, pink and naked.

A few days later they begin to get some color as feathers begin to develop.

Around day 8 their feathers are emerging from their shafts.

And here are the nestlings a few days before they fledge, already showing the yellow, gray and rust colors of their parents.

I went out early Saturday morning to catch the early light on this nest box and enjoy watching the parents feeding the youngsters.  They were foraging close by the nest in their usual low flying habit of going from perch to perch on the lower bare branches of the oak trees finding mostly arthropods to feed the nestlings.

Here is one of the adults peering into the nest box with its tail fanned out showing that gorgeous rufous color.

Ash-throated Flycatchers are deceptively quick but I managed to catch this one exiting the birdhouse. Many times, especially early in the nesting stages, they will have a fecal sac in their beak as they exit to drop somewhere away from the nest keeping it clean.

I shot this video and was lucky enough to record not only the calls of the Ash-throated Flycatchers but a few other cavity nesting birds that you can hear in the background. Go ahead and venture a guess as to the identity of at least two other cavity nesting species in the video. You may also pick up the woodpecker drumming around the 43 second mark and one of the nestling’s head popping up at the end of the video.

For more great bird photos from around the world, check out World Bird Wednesday!

Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor) photos by Larry Jordan

If you have nest boxes that accommodate Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), you are undoubtedly familiar with the photo above.  Tree Swallows are commonly found on and around their nest site and often perch atop the birdhouse or on a nearby branch when nesting in a natural tree cavity.

They breed regularly throughout central and northern North America but their range is expanding southward as they take advantage of bluebird trails¹.  This is their range map courtesy of Birds of North America Online.

This male Tree Swallow was very cooperative, posing as I approached the nest box.  Click on photos for full sized images.

He was stretching and spreading his wings for me.

Glancing down at his mate and showing off that iridescent steel blue…

as she was calmly peeking out the nest box entrance in her muted blue tones.

Tree Swallows are fierce defenders of their nest sites and will even dive bomb humans that approach too close.  This, of course, is expected by trail monitors.  The occupying pair of swallows will call in support from Tree Swallow neighbors and, all of a sudden, you may be surrounded on all sides by circling, diving birds like this one.

They chirp as they come in, strafing the would be intruder, which can be a bit intimidating.

Once you open the nest box, you will see what all the fuss is about.  A beautiful feathered nest with smooth, white, unmarked eggs.

Incubated by the female for about two weeks brings the happy couple a treasure trove of little ones. These nestlings are about three days old.

A couple of weeks later, the nestlings have blossomed into fully feathered chicks, nearly ready to fledge when 16 to 24 days old.

Bird behavior is the most interesting aspect of bird watching for me. Being able to watch these aerial acrobats build their nests and raise their young occupies a very special place in my heart and in my life.  I hope it does for you too.

A short distance from this nest box, I filmed another pair of Tree Swallows as the female checks out a natural tree cavity.  If you listen carefully, at around the 42 second mark you can hear the male’s high pitched chirps as he guards the site from a limb a few feet away.

To see more great bird photography, check out World Bird Wednesday!

References: ¹ Birds of North America Online

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) Male photos by Larry Jordan

It is my favorite time of year, nesting season, with my favorite songbird, the Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana), the bird that carries the sky on its back and the earth on its breast.  They don’t call these the Bluebirds of Happiness for nothin’!  Just the sight of a bluebird perched on a tree top, fence post or wire brings a smile to any sane person’s face.  Click on photos for full sized images.

A few weeks ago I was checking the nest boxes on one of my three bluebird trails and slowly approached one of the birdhouses.  The male Bluebird was perched above in the tree but the female was sticking her head out the entrance hole, watching as I approached.

This is behavior usually encountered at Tree Swallow boxes.  Western Bluebirds usually leave the birdhouse before getting this close but maybe this pair knows my voice and face by now (I always announce myself when approaching a birdhouse so the inhabitants can escape if they choose, rather than being startled).

She was so steadfast that I thought she was protecting newly hatched young.  She finally left the nest and I opened the box to find six perfect sky blue eggs.

By my next visit, a week later, the chicks were looking about three or four days old.  Both adults were in the nearby trees watching every move I made to make sure their babies weren’t disturbed.

I closed up the nestbox and moved away to record my findings.

Here is a shot of the little darlings at about two weeks of age.  At this age they are fully feathered.

Western Bluebirds fledge at about three weeks of age.  I advise not opening the nest box after they are thirteen days old to prevent premature fledging.  Even at this stage, I will open the box very carefully and slowly so as not to disturb the chicks.  The last thing you want to do is cause the death of one of these cuties because they flew the coop to early.

Coming up next week, Tree Swallows!  Until then, check out World Bird Wednesday to see great photos of birds from all over the world.

House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) photos by Larry Jordan

I went out to Clear Creek the other day, searching for an Eastern Kingbird that had been seen by several birders and posted on the local list serve.  The Eastern Kingbird is a common species in its range but not in California.

Unfortunately, I dipped on the Kingbird, being a day late, but I did find a House Wren (Troglodytes aedon) actually excavating a nest site in a hollow tree branch.  I apologize for the grainy photos but you can still click on them to see the full sized images.  He was singing away most of the time when he didn’t have debris in his beak.

I had to shoot these photos at an ISO setting of 3200 to get a fast enough shutter speed to stop the action.  The House Wren was in the shadows the entire time.

The best part of this brief encounter? I was able to get a video of this little guy excavating the cavity (I’m assuming it was the male House Wren doing the excavation because the male of this species usually begins the nest building by placing sticks in the bottom of the cavity as a platform for the female to complete once they pair up).

Here he is at the cavity opening as he pops in and out with debris in his beak.

You can hear the bird singing toward the end of this two minute video and another House Wren answering in the background.

I also found the stick foundation of a House Wren nest in one of my bluebird boxes a few days ago.  I hope to get some good photos of that pair if they decide to actually build a nest in that box.

For more, and I’m sure better, bird photos, check out this weeks Bird Photography Weekly and submit your own photos to share with the rest of us!