One day we noticed
extra grass and pine needles on our front porch, at home, in Ballwin,
Missouri. I looked up to notice
the beginnings of a nest inside the wreath that is mounted on the sidewall,
just outside our front door.
A House Finch had built a nest in our front porch wreath (photo: Mike Zieloski)
The next day there were
more bits of grasses on the front porch concrete and the nest had gotten
larger. The nest had a nice deep cup…not muddy enough to be a Robin…not
disheveled enough to be a Carolina Wren or a House Sparrow…so I figured that it
was probably a House Finch (Carpodacus mexicanus). House Finches do like to
nest close to human structures and our porch is covered by a nice roof
extension. The nest building took place March 20, and 21, 2015.
Four eggs were laid over a four day period (photo: Mike Zieloski)
Daily I would peer into the
cup nest to check for eggs. The first egg was laid March
23, 2015, and then one egg was laid per day on the 24th, 25th
and 26th of March. The
chicks hatched, but I wasn’t sure exactly which
day or days. By April 17th
there were 4 tiny chicks in the nest when I checked.
An interesting behavior
took place for 3 days…a Robin began to build a nest on top of the wreath. We
observed the Robin fly out from under the eaves 5 times, but the nest was well
on its way, so we did not see all the trips. The Robin never finished the nest.
Did the hatching House Finches stimulate the Robin to build there? That is my best guess.
Just thirty-six days after the first egg was laid the babies had fledged (photo: Mike Zieloski)
The House Finches Fledged
April 28, 2015 sometime between 6:20 am when I retrieved the newspaper and 7:34
am when I left for work. The nest was empty. Only baby poop remains in the
nest.
House Finches are small
5-inch birds and have a fairly nice song--a fast cheery warbling. The males
have a red eyebrow and red breast and belly. Females and young have blurry
brown lines all over.
House Finches have an
interesting American History in that they were accidentally released in New
York in 1940 and spread west. Originally only a resident of Mexico and the southwestern
United States, the birds were sold illegally in New York City as
"Hollywood Finches," a marketing ploy. To avoid prosecution under the Migratory
Bird Treaty Act of 1918, vendors and owners released the birds. They have become naturalized in largely
unforested land across the Eastern U.S.
They have displaced the native Purple Finch and even the
non-native House Sparrow. In 1870 or before, they were introduced
into Hawaii and are known to be
abundant on all its islands.
Story and photos by
Michael Zeloski, World Bird Sanctuary Director of Education.
No comments:
Post a Comment