Hi Tweets -

Just a couple of weeks ago we had a Steller's Jay start building a nest
on a light fixture just outside the door to our patio. Completely wrong
place for the bird to start, but it got the nest about 3/4 complete (not
lined yet) when it stopped. I had incorporated some paper into the nest.
Guess it finally realized that there was too much traffic in and out of
the door. Would have been interesting to have seen the process all the
way thru.

Brian H. Bell
Woodinville Wa
bellasoc at isomedia.com

Caratfeathers at aol.com wrote:

> I just observed a pair of Stellar's Jays gathering nesting material.
> I watched them tug up grass roots then scoop them up along with some
> mud and decaying leaves. They flew off towards the tall pines on the
> far side of the ravine. I figured they must be masons rather than
> weavers so I checked my copy of A Guide to the Nests, Eggs and
> Nestlings of NA Birds by Baicich and Harrison. Sure enough! They
> definitely use these materials to complete their nests. Baicich and
> Harrison's description of Steller's Jay nests is as follows:
>
> " A cup of twigs, usually with dead leaves (and often paper) in base,
> lined with mud, and with an inner lining of fine rootlets, and
> sometimes pine needles, hair or grasses. Built by both sexes...."
>
> It was neat to actually watch part of the process!
>
> Judy Rowe Taylor
> Mukilteo, WA
> caratfeathers at aol.com
>
> "I am life which wills to live in the midst of life which wills to
> live." - Albert Schweitzer