I opened the lid to clean it out, but was startled by a bird. She flew out of the opening of the lid and into a nearby tree, twittering at me the entire time. I peeked in and saw a large nest of sticks and grass, with bits of trash. There was a small cup shaped depression with five pale blue eggs inside. You can see the orange candy wrappers in her nest ...
I love birds, but I'm terrible at identification. So I came inside and googled around a little, and found that this was the nest of a European Starling. I also learned that these birds are considered pests here in the U.S. and that they are taking up the habitats of natural species. But the mama bird doesn't know she's a pest. All she knows is she's got little ones to prepare for, and prepare she does, adding more bits of trash each day.
I only check the nest once a day so I don't disturb her. I knock on the tank and she flies out of the tank lid, into an evergreen tree about 20 yards away. She always watches me from a spot on the tree, but in general doesn't seem to mind me peeking in her nest. She comes back within a moment or two of my leaving.
This is a European Starling. This isn't the mama who lives at my house, but darn close.
I check the nest daily for about a week ....
1 comment:
That's neat. I always like finding bird nests. I'm glad you found this in the spring. I hope you don't have to get your tank refilled before the birds are out of the nest.
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