It's been well over a month since I have posted about our nesting Eastern Phoebes. As you can imagine, a lot can happen in one month. The last time I posted about them they were just getting the nest built. Well, now they have 5 healthy-looking young ones that will be fledging within the next week.
A few weeks ago, friend, neighbor, and licensed bird bander Bob Scott Placier came out and did a very special thing - he banded one of our Phoebes. The hope and plan was to band both parents, but Mama Phoebe was on the nest while we were setting up the mist nets and had her eye on us the whole time, so she had a very good idea that we were up to something. Something that she didn't really want to take part in, thank you very much. Fair enough, Mama. The baby Phoebes were still very young at that point, so she needed to spend as much time on the nest as possible in order to keep them warm.
After patiently waiting an hour or so, Papa Phoebe finally flew by and into the nets. Bob worked quickly to record the relevant data and put the band on his leg so Papa could get back to the business of foraging for his young. I did have time, though, so snap a few quick shots of our proud Papa.
Now, when the Phoebes come back to nest next March, I will be looking for a band on one member of the pair to confirm whether or not the same birds are coming back here year after year.
Here's a video of the very active babies, taken on April 30th. Peeping, wing flapping, tail wagging - yes, I would say they are the picture of health.
There are a number of early signs of spring around these parts, a few of which include the return of some of the earliest migrant birds, like Woodcocks, Killdeer, and the dearest to my heart, the Eastern Phoebe. In the past, March 15th, give or take a day in either direction, has been the traditional arrival date of "our" Phoebes. This year, they arrived on March 4th. It took them about a week to settle on where they would nest, which turned out to be the same place they always nest - on the side of our house, just under one of the eaves. PhoebeCam 2011 is rolling, ready to capture the nesting event that is now underway. This year we are able to capture sound for the first time, and this is also the first time that we've been able to catch them building a nest from scratch (they recycled a previous nest the past 2 years). Here are some videos of the beginning stages. I'll keep you posted as things progress.
This Eastern Phoebe thinks she's found the perfect spot for a piece of moss. Or maybe not.
Both the male and female Eastern Phoebe make an appearance here. They exchange pleasantries.
It's time for some new videos! The first is a time-lapse video that Dave (awesomely!) stitched together that encompasses the entire first nest attempt (and success!) of our resident Eastern Phoebe pair, from the first days that the Phoebes claimed and fixed up the nest up to the fledging of the 5 chicks. It's 7 weeks of activity compressed into 5 minutes of footage. Dave sums it up as follows:
Videos were taken from 3/19/2010 to 5/8/2010. Videos were triggered by a motion sensor so the time is not linear. Periods with more activity such as when the young birds were being fed are disproportionately longer than those with less activity. Fifty two hours of video were compressed (by removing frames) to this five minute video. Nest repairs began on March 19th. Eggs were laid around April 5th. Eggs hatched around April 19th and the last bird fledged on May 8th.
Here are some highlights to look for:
0:00-0:50 - repair and refurbish pre-existing nest
0:50-2:00 - egg laying and incubation
2:00 - eggs have hatched, feeding begins!
2:25 - look for heads to start popping up
2:50 - the young ones are now easily seen
3:10 - getting bigger...
3:49 - more activity and movement from babies
4:38 - 2 birds leave the nest
4:49 - #3 leaves the nest
4:53 - #3 comes back
4:55 - #3 leaves again
4:56- end: #4 and #5 argue about who's leaving next
5:04 - empty!
It's amazing to watch the progression of the nest being shored up, and the way the babies grow. Enough of my babbling, though. I know you guys want to actually see the video!
The 2nd video is one I captured just the other evening when we were out for a leisurely paddle on Fox Lake. The lake was thick with Great Blue Herons - I've never seen so many there at one time. They weren't too crazy about sharing the shoreline with each other, even though there was plenty of room to accommodate them all. There was one spot that seemed to offer up some great fishing, a spot well worth defending, as you will see in this video. Enjoy!
Today was a big day for our baby Phoebes - three of them left the nest! Baby #1 flew the coop at 11:11 a.m. Baby #2 followed suit 10 minutes later at 11:21. The next fledging didn't take place, however, until 5:38 p.m. This is the first time I've seen the departures from the nest take place at such a staggered pace. There were still 2 little ones in the nest the last time I checked, and I watched up until it was so dark the camera couldn't make them out any more.
An interesting detail is that the two remaining birds continue to be brought food by the parents. I had always read that the way adult birds coerce their young to fledge is by withholding food, but I didn't really see any withholding going on with this group.
Here's the video of the first bird fledging. Based on other take-offs that I've watched (of "our" birds from last year), this little one is very matter-of-fact about the whole process, and leaves just like it's the most natural thing in the world! (At the beginning you'll note that one of the parents feeds one of the babies and takes away a poop sac.)
The second baby left in much the same manner as the first, following his or her lead and just jumping right on out.
The third baby, however, decides to use the box that contains the camera as a launching platform before exiting to the bottom left of the screen. Watch how the remaining two birds "talk" to their departing sibling:
Baby number four made a noble, yet unsuccessful, attempt at leaving. Lots of flapping, but it couldn't quite bear to let go of that nest yet!
Let's see how long it takes for those last two birds to really stretch their wings and fly away!
Yes folks, as my headline implies, our baby Eastern Phoebes should leave the nest any day now. They hatched on April 19th, and today marks 16 days since they hatched. Eastern Phoebes typically fledge between 16 and 18 days after hatching. I say this every year, but I cannot get over how quickly they develop. They are very handsome and healthy-looking birds, and I hope that they all fare well once they do make that leap from the nest.
Here are some videos that were captured just today (May 5th).
In this one you can see just how big they are. You can't see them all in this video, but I promise there are 5 little birds crammed into this nest:
In case you didn't believe me, here is a good view of all 5 of them in the nest as they jockey for a fresh position:
Finally, I think this is a good example of how close they are to leaving the nest. Lots of wing flapping going on in this video, getting those little flight muscles warmed up and primed. There's also some wing extending and tail bobbing going on here:
We'll have the camera going bright and early for the next few days in hopes of catching them when they leave (they took off in the morning last year, right before we left for work). I'll keep you posted with the news!
Before I head off to Shawnee State Forest for Flora-Quest, I wanted to leave you with some video footage of our Phoebe family. There are 5 healthy (presumably) nestlings, and they are getting bigger every day. Mama and papa Phoebe are super busy from sunup to sundown feeding and removing the waste of these little ones. Here's some video!
In this one, papa brings a bug to mama while she's on the nest, and she gives it to one of the nestlings. They were just a day or two old at this point, and she's sitting right on top of them so you can't see them:
Here's another example of papa helping out with the feeding duties, handing off to mama once again. This is a few days later, and you can see the gaping beaks of the nestlings now:
Finally, here's a clear view of all 5 nestlings during a feeding from one parent. I love how after the adult leaves all of the babies kind of fold back down into the nest synchronously:
In addition to the Phoebe nest, Dave also discovered a Carolina Wren nest under the house a few days ago. I figured they were nesting somewhere close by, but I couldn't figure out where.
They really aren't picky about where they put their nests:
Can you make out the round opening of the nest over at the right? There are at least 4 little ones in this nest.
So many new flowers are popping open, it's incredible. The wild Geraniums are looking very handsome, and the Firepink is just starting to bloom, as well as Spiderwort. I found a small mass of Blue-eye Mary in the woods across the road last weekend. A life plant for me!
I can't wait to see how many new plants we'll encounter at Flora-Quest this weekend! Keep your fingers crossed that the weather holds for us.
Spring has sprung, and I am delighted to announce that our resident pair of Eastern Phoebes has returned to nest on the side of our house!
They are about a week behind schedule as compared to last year. I wasn't even sure they were going to nest in the same spot again. There was actually a curious Carolina Wren checking out and reshaping the old nest for a few days.
Not to worry, though. Once the Phoebes made up their mind that they would settle in this spot, they immediately set to work reshaping it into a bowl fit for the finest Phoebe fledglings. (Say that 3 times fast!) It has been interesting to watch over the past few days how it has really taken shape. Lots of moss has been added around the outside, and it seems more firmly anchored to the side of the house. It's a big nest, though, to be sure. I think this is the third year this nest has been recycled.
This is the first year we have been able to observe them via video from day one. A bonus from this early observation: the male and female spent time together at the nest during the first few days. Time spent together lasts very briefly, as evidenced by the fact that we first started watching them on Friday, and by Tuesday the female was the only one captured on video at the nest 90% of the time. Based on which bird is doing what, we think the bird that raises and lowers the feathers on his head is the male (we call him Don King) and the one who doesn't raise head feathers is the female. We came to this conclusion because Don King mostly stands around while the female does most of the work (not using human sexist views here - the female is responsible for nest building and for incubating the eggs, as noted on BirdHouses101.com).
I would think that all this back and forth, back and forth, must be exhausting on the female. In this video I feel kind of bad for her: she comes in carrying a rather large bug in her beak and starts in on a little bowl shaping, at which point she drops the bug and continues with renovations. To me it looks like the bug gets caught on the side of the nest, so I don't know if maybe she was able to pick it up later or if she truly just forgot about it.
I would expect egg laying to begin in a few days, so incubation will probably start in the next week or so. I'll be sure to keep you posted.
P.S. I submitted a bird-themed poem to a competition over at Daily Writing Tips (opens in separate tab/window) - it's titled "Lucky". Go over and check it out if you have a chance. If you like it, please let your voice be heard by voting for it. Or vote for any of the other 9 poems - they are all great. Thank you!
Way back at the beginning of spring I posted some pictures and videos of the Eastern Phoebe nest that we have on the side of our house. I was remiss in that I did not post many updates about the nest's progress. I am happy to report that 5 (presumably) healthy babies fledged from that nest. And now, our Phoebe pair is in the midst of rearing their second brood, once again of 5 nestlings.
Phoebes might be one of the easier birds to photograph because they tend to perch for long periods of time in one spot. And, if you're lucky to have them nesting on your house, you will soon learn their favorite perching spots that are on the path to and from the nest.
Unfortunately, it has becoming increasingly difficult for me to get decent photos of these birds now that the trees are fully leafed out. Our woods are very dense and filled with shadows, so I have to wait for them to come out to a perch that is in more direct light. They have become very fond of sitting on various shepherd's hooks in the garden, and on a spud bar that is standing up in our driveway, which is where this handsome bird is perched.
Here are some videos we captured of the previous brood.
This first video is of the 5 very large fledglings trying to rearrange themselves in the nest. I call it playing musical chairs. It's quite a precarious venture to move around in there!
This is the video of 3 of the 5 fledging from the nest (1 had already fledged previous to this video). One lone baby remains at the end, too scared to make the leap with everyone else! It seems baby #5 departed within 30 minutes of his other nest mates.
I do worry that once this second brood has flown the coop that we won't hear or see much of the whole family for the rest of the season, which will be a sad thing. I hope they come back and visit from time to time.
This post was for Bird Photography Weekly #42. For more Bird Photography Weekly, go here:
Sorry I haven't posted any Phoebe updates lately. Not much going on right now. She's still incubating, so most of the time she just sits on the nest.
However, we did catch some interesting footage of her yesterday. It's not ALL about sitting on the nest.
For example, I notice that she's always very alert while on the nest and is almost always looking around. What is she looking at, I wonder to myself. I got a good idea yesterday. Watch as she tracks a bug.
And here, a would=be meal flies right past her...
In this one, follow her as she leaves the nest and hovers in toward the window on the trail of a bug.
This one shows an incredibly extended bout of hovering. I was really amazed when I saw this. She looks like an overgrown hummingbird!
Last but not least I'll share with you how she sometimes brings her meal with her and finishes it at the nest.
I hope you enjoyed these little peeks into a day in the life of our incubating mama Phoebe. It will still be a while before any eggs hatch. The Cornell site says incubation time is about 16 days, but it's only been 7 days by my calculations. I'll keep you all posted with any mini-updates over in the sidebar.
I first mentioned the Great Blue Heron colony at Lake Hope a little over a month ago when the Great Backyard Bird Count was in full swing. At that time we located lots of nests far off in the sycamore trees, but no actual birds. Well, we've been back several times since then and have seen a handful of herons.
Unfortunately my meager 80-200mm zoom lens cannot even begin to approach acceptable pictures of these birds and nests that are so far off in the distance. Even when using a tripod, it's hard to get the camera to focus on the birds instead of one of the many branches that is between the camera and the birds. Instead, I just have to modify the photo to give you the general idea of "here are the nests, and, oh yeah, that's a heron."
Mr. (or Mrs.) skinny legs hangs out on the nest.
Our most recent visit to the colony/rookery/heronry was this past Sunday, right in the middle of the day (2:00, maybe), and I was actually surprised to find any herons around. I think there were 5 or 6 there, one of which was surely sitting on eggs because I could only see a head sticking out of the nest. There was also a grouping of them just kind of "standing around" at the top of a tree, but not really on a nest. It almost felt as if they were standing guard, but of what?
I messed with this picture quite a bit to try to show some of the coloring of the bird's underside.
Subsequent manipulation led to this interesting rendition.
Not sure how many more times we'll make it out there before the trees leaf out, but if we go again and see some activity, I'll let you know!
PHOEBE NEST UPDATE: Things at the nest have been pretty quiet lately. She seems to stop in only a few times a day, and very briefly at that. It would seem that nest construction is complete, but again, we still have no idea if she's started laying or not.
Here's another video of our mamma Phoebe working on her nest. Take a look and tell me what you think she's doing.
My theory is that she's using her tail to either a) sculpt the nest; or b) balance herself while using her feet to do some rearranging down inside the nest.
What do you think?
There hasn't been a great amount of activity at the nest over the past few days. Just continued tidying and adding of moss and some dog fur. We have no idea if there are any eggs in there yet or not.
"Dear Diary: Today was another busy day. I worked very hard, making continued improvements to my nest. That silly lady who lives in the big box thinks I started laying eggs already. Puh-leez! I would have squashed them by now with all my tidying activities! Today I am posting video entries to show you how Martha Stewart I am. Also, I will also show you how to sculpt your abs AND your nest... AT THE SAME TIME!"
"Sometimes things just don't fit right. You can't be afraid to pull something out and start over!"
"After this very long day of such tedious work, I'm pooped! I'm staying in tonight!"
A note from the humans: We experienced some problems with the broadcast of the live cam today. Dave took drastic measures and came back home this morning to get it running again, but unfortunately it crashed again within an hour. We had to go all day without watching our Phoebes! Dave is working on a way to fix this, so if you stop by and see that the cam is down, just check back later. Thanks for your patience.
"Dear Diary: Today me and my mate had a lot of work to do. This nest really needed some sprucing up. The landlords at this place tewtally didn't keep it tidy at all during the off-season!"
"Luckily there's lots of moss and lichen around this place, which makes freshening up our little home a lot easier."
"My muscles really got a workout as I balanced on the nest and worked my belly into it to get a nice bowl hollowed out."
"No corner went untouched! The back wall needs to be reinforced as much as the sides and the front. Our babies need a sturdy, safe place to in which to hatch!"
A few notes from the "slacker" landlord: First, sorry for the picture quality. These are basically screenshots of screenshots, so the images aren't too clear, but I hope you get the gist of it. Second, we've had the cam running most of this evening, and there wasn't much activity, but suddenly I looked up and noticed someone sitting on the nest. Not fixing it up. SITTING. Normally I hear one of them before they show up on camera, but this time he or she slipped in silently. I assume it's momma Phoebe, and since she's actually staying there for the night, I would have to think she's laid her first egg!!!!
Unfortunately we can't see down into the nest to see the eggs, but time will tell soon enough. Once she starts sitting on the nest during the day, we'll start counting down the days to hatching!
As I mentioned in my last post, our Phoebes have arrived. It's only taken them a matter of days (less than a week, as far as I can tell) to lay claim to last year's nest. This exciting development prompted us to move the webcam from "Feedercam" to "Nestcam."
Oh, hello there!
You may notice that the tail is a bit blurred in this photo. They wag their tails... a lot. Funny, I had forgotten about that particular behavior until I saw it the other day.
Dave deserves pretty much all the credit for getting the webcam up and running. Be sure to thank him for all his hard work (and today's his birthday, so wish him happy b-day, too!).
The cam, mounted next to the nest.
See the hook that the feeder is hanging from over on the left? That's a favorite perching spot for the Phoebes, and that's where they're almost always sitting when I take their photos.
We were a little worried at first after we placed the cam. There was no Phoebe activity for several hours. Did we scare them away with that big THING next to their nest? But finally, we were happy to see them come back.
Then we got this view....
Aren't they the sweetest? Upon checking the Cornell site, they say that Phoebes are pretty solitary, and that even the members of a mated pair spend little time together except for some joint roosting activity early on in pair formation. I guess we were pretty lucky to actually see them together!
I look forward to watching their little family life unfold. I'll try to keep notes over in the sidebar as to the progress of the nest. Stay tuned!
There is a very special bird call that tells me spring has arrived: "FEE-bee... fee-BEE!"
Yes friends, I heard my very first Eastern Phoebe of the season this morning. I was so excited that I literally jumped up and down.
I didn't actually spot the bird, but there is no mistaking that sound! Right on time, too. Looking back over the past few years, the Phoebes have arrived in our woods right around the 15th of March.
They have reliably nested along the side of our house, under the eaves, for several years, and hopefully they will do so again this year. We would love to turn our live feedercam into live nestcam!
I don't know if you can see it, but there are some fuzzy baby Phoebe heads just barely sticking up over the top of the nest! (click photo to enlarge)
