I have a mystery in my back yard and maybe some of you can help me solve
it.
I have a high nest box that I did not clean out after last year (I know,
naughty me). I thought I heard young birds in it last year and again
this year, but never could see the parents, so I thought I was hearing
birds from another nearby nest which was in the same tree, but higher
than the box. So while doing some other yard work I decided to check
this box and see if it had really been used. It had.. at least two and
maybe three nests were built up on top of each other. The nests were
made stricktly out of finely shredded cedar bark curled into a cup. No
moss, strings, fur, grass or any other material was present. The cup of
the nest was about 1.5 inches in diameter. The hole on the box had been
enlarged to about 2.5 or 3 inches vertically and about 1.5 inches
horizontally. I have a very diverse yard, with the most common juveniles
I have seen being (in order of commonality):
Red-Breasted Nuthatch, Song Sparrow, Chickadees (both Black capped and
Chestnut Sided), Stellar Jay, American Goldfinch, Spotted Towhee, Rufous
Hummingbird, Hairy Woodpecker, Flicker, Pileated Woodpecker. I am quite
certain the nest did not belong to Black Cap Chickadees, as I have
watched their nests extensively in other boxes and they always use a ton
of moss, dog fur, some strings, and some grass.
If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them. Thanks for the help.


Joanne Schmitt
jschmitt at sprintmail.com
Poulsbo, WA

"The earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs,
but not every man's greed."
- Mahatma Ghandi