Goldfinches gathering nesting fluff & other bird stuff:
 

We have a corncob holder that we use in winter to feed the birds.

Starting in spring I shift it to holding nesting fluff. This year I found some nice natural cotton that is made just for this purpose, and the goldfinches have started to take it yesterday.

First photo is a newly moulted male gathering some.

Second photo is a female doing the same.

The dark stuff below is alpaca fur, the lighter color has been taken but the darker is less popular.
I bought both types of fluff this year on Ebay.

I took both photos thru my wavy window glass.

Since the finches have their new breeding feathers, there is lots of action around the house now of them flying around and making finchey sounds.

Cornell University (the same as where the Red Tailed Hawks cam resides) is a great place to learn about birds... they even have recordings of their songs and calls.
this link is of the Goldfinches:

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I learned an interesting thing on the Cornell site:

Goldfinches do not eat insects at all. Most seed eating birds eat insects especially when feeding nestlings (hummingbirds and our Cardinals do that). But Goldfinches do not. So they stated on that site that when cowbirds lay their eggs in a finch nest, the nestling dies within 4 days, since no insects are provided for them. I found that very interesting.

Today I have a chickadee taking the new cotton fluff.

Here is what the fluff is.....seems far more popular this season than the cotton I gave last spring (from my supplement bottles).
They will not take polyester I discovered long ago.
This is what I found Ebay...

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While this nesting cotton is made for their special holder, it works fine in my wire corncob holder too. It appears this fluff has shorter strands in it so it is easier for the birds to pluck it out. They are super busy this morning doing so. The finches are arriving in pairs... but it is difficult to tell with the chickadees, as the males and females look almost identical.

This morning I managed to catch a female goldfinch approaching a chickadee at the fluff dispenser. The goldfinch is on the left. It was totally an accident as I was focused on the chickadee only. The goldfinch is coming in for a landing... they fly in bursts, flap flap, cruise, etc...so her wings are folded in the photo.

I am very taken with birds' nests. I have for years used them as subjects for my drawings.

Here is one example: I don't know what type of bird made this nest, as I found it on the ground upNorth in the woods after a storm. It was quite small, so I thought it was a warbler...since we have many of those up there. This nest had lichen and birch bark woven into it...so I know it came from the boreal forest up there.

Various Goldfinches incorporate fluff of many types differently in their nests. This Google search shows some techniques they use. Some of them use alot if a good supply of clean fluff can be found.

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MrsD,

Your Goldfinches are totally different to ours, much more golden with no red markings. As for the Chickadee, I thought it looked exactly the same as our Marsh/Willow Tit, so I checked to see if it was an alternative name - nope, just very similar looking birds which confound many.

Nesting materials. Due to my neuropathy and TN I let my beard grow before having it trimmed short. The Sparrows and Robins collect the hair. They also used to appreciate the brushings from my Ex's GSD, that I took in when she could no longer keep her.

Dave.

mrsD, I'm not sure, but I may have seen that nest pastel before but just wanted to say that your artist gifts never cease to amaze me.

Oh, Thank you Lara.... yes you might have seen it before. I don't have all my slides converted to digital yet...so I tend to use the few I have done over and over as examples.

I have a 3 ring giant binder with many sheets of slides of my work.

Upon thinking about it, that little nest might be a chickadee. We found one tightly wound inside peeling birch bark once. I'll have to look that up on Google soon. We have alot of warblers on the island upNorth, chickadees, a few robins and bluejays, nuthatches, woodland sparrows, but not many other birds. No goldfinches there. Or Cardinals, or Titmouse. We do have the beautiful pileated woodpeckers, and the other woodpeckers all nest really high up in dead branches or trunks. The Pileated dig their own holes in living trees... huge holes. They are impressive, and leave large chips all over the ground below. That is how we locate their nests. And I hear hawks scriiing so they must be up high too.

I really like to delve into the details and textures of wildlife. I tend to find and see things that others miss. I recall a small nest hubby cut down from a tree around the house..it was about 3 inches in diameter and abandoned in late summer. It had tiny snail shells in the bottom. I mean TINY... the ones with pointy shells, that live in shallow water. I always wondered at what type of bird lived there. They had thin shells, and which were transparent, like "baby" snails. We do have small black snails in the shallow water along the shore that eat algae on the rocks. I think some ducks eat those. But how these got into that nest is a mystery. Our land snails are round and don't have pointy shells. Oh, well...

Here is a link to chickadee nesting types...


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I just read in an older (about a year older) Nat Geo magazine that many birds may be endangered or no longer nesting where they do today... by 2050 or later. So I feel those birds in urban environments, need access to fluff as well as food. The main source of fluff is milkweed..which is declining rapidly in the US and affecting the Monarch butterflies which eat its leaves as
larvae. The birds take the fluff for nests too. Monarch butterflies are down to 25% of what they used to be very recently.

The vigorous taking of this fluff I offer, is really a sign that the birds really need it for making their nests for the young. I learned a bit about this from the older cams of Phoebe Allens... that I used to watch from Calif. The owner of that cam explained the need for natural nesting materials that his hummingbirds needed and used in the livestream cam situations. I think it is something that most of us don't think about... how the little birds make their homes for their young, safe and cleaner to result in a healthy new generation.

This is the issue with the blurb about disappearing habitat for nesting birds. It is a two page spread about 3 types of birds with maps... The common Loon, the Baird sparrow, and the Burrowing Owl...losing nesting sites due to global warming. Predictions that 126 other species expected to suffer also. Nat Geo has these short subjects in the beginning of each issue, before the featured articles start. Most libraries carry this magazine. (BTW the dinosaur article is very well done and fascinating too)


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They don't have the whole story however online. (maybe if you subscribe?)

Expanding farms and building projects are destroying the natural plants that birds use for nesting materials and food. This is already impacting the Monarch butterfly, which has lost Milkweed plant that it needs for food. The loss of prairie dog colonies, is causing a problem for the burrowing owl, which uses old tunnels for nesting.

more nesting trivia:
 

Well, after a two day rain and no nesting birds taking fluff, we are now drying out some.

A tufted titmouse has been coming a little bit before the rains and he is highly aggressive in yanking out the alpaca fur. He goes to it each time he visits whereas the white cotton seems more popular with the finches and chickadees.

Today he/she was back yanking away...so fast the movements were just a blur for my camera. He/she yanked out most of the fur today.

So I looked around the net about this and found this link which is very very interesting. It appears that the titmouse will yank fur out of living mammals including people!

Here is a video of it:

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This photo on this link of the gray bird yanking brown fur, is what I have been watching today as well.

So I guess our mammals are relieved that I am providing alpaca fur for the fiesty Tufted Titmouse!

MrsD,

Weezie had better watch her back, these birds are aggressively unconcerned as to who they pluck.:D

Dave.

Yes, I do think it is very funny. LOL

Yikes, no sunning yourself outside in a hammock or on a day bed with those around. Do you think they have really sharp beaks that cut bits off or do they yank it out by the roots?

Oh, I think they yank it out -- if it breaks, so be it. If not , it comes with the roots.

The style of taking the fluff is so different with the little birds.

The Titmouse really goes at it. I have been unable to get a good photo of the process. It is fast and furious.

The other birds study the fluff, and perch on the dispenser and pluck at it and sometimes it is a long process. So I have photos of them. But I cannot catch this Titmouse at all he/she is very aggressive and fast. Which makes sense now that I have seen him go at living sources posted online!

He also has a very aggressive call. He was woken us up several days in a row ....

Listen here:

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The first call is what we have had daily here. It is very piercing when close to the house. When he woke me up the other day I thought it was a car alarm! Usually he is in 3's ... sometimes,
it sounds like "judy judy judy" and other times the call is slightly different, but always in 3s or 4's.

So they must be nesting near by I guess?

Goldfinch photos...
 

Here are some photos from this week... Mr. Goldfinch is working on a volunteer sunflower from the seeds planted by our little red squirrel during the winter. He has been very busy yesterday especially, so I think he is taking the seeds to his mate who is probably on the nest now. (she was taking lots of fluff from my dispenser over the past 2 weeks.).

Fascinating!
 

MrsD,

Wow! Thanks for a fascinating and fun thread!:D

I LOVE watching birds!
We live in the Northeastern U.S. We have some Robins that build three nests, one nest after another, each season. (The same Robins come back to build the nests each season.) Once the chicks of the first nest have hatched and fly, then the second nest is built, etc. In between building the nests, we watch the "parent birds" running around on the ground with the "adolescent Robins," etc.

They build the nests in a location where we can watch them building each nest, see the babies when they hatch, watch the feedings, and also watch as the birds leave, one by one. We get to observe a great deal about the parents as well as the chicks.

We have many other types of birds around. The Robins just happen to be the ones building multiple nests within view, season after season.

I "talk with" the mother bird often. She comes over very close to me as I talk with her.

It's all quite amazing and so much fun!:D

I am thrilled to discover your thread just now!
great pictures and info!
Thanks so much for sharing!:hug:

In Joy,
DejaVu

Hi DejaVu,

Funny you mention Robins on this Thread. As with MrsD's Goldfinches, they are a totally different bird to their European/English Cousin.

Yet, with your Robin approaching you it seems that the temperament of the types are very similar here and there. In my healthier days I 'trained' my Robins to come within inches of me for mealworm rewards.

Dave.

Interacting with Robins
 

Oh, yes! I find Robins very amenable to communicating and to "training."

I had first "met" this mother Robin when she was sitting on the door handle, tapping on the glass, shortly after we had moved in. She did this day after day. (The former owners were my parents and had never interacted with these birds. They were shocked to find out birds had been around that closely.)

Since she kept tapping on the glass day after day, it seemed there was something she'd wanted. I looked at the rafters above, where there is a deck on a higher level of the house and saw the open areas FILLED with old nests. My DH and I had gotten a ladder and cleaned out the old nests.

The mother Robin was then quite content and has been back to bless us with 3 nests per season over the past three years!

She comes to me to "chat" and we "chat" back and forth. She is within a foot of me by the time she makes her way across the yard, after I have called to her. People watch from indoors and are amazed she will come to me when I talk to her. (She and her older offspring live across the yard once they leave the nests, which are close to the house.) If anyone steps into "our area" while we are interacting, she is quickly gone. Just so much fun!

I want to learn more from MrsD, and others, on the topic of birds. :D

Such a tremendous blessing to have them around. :D

In joy!
DejaVu

P.S. I have my pet wild rabbits, too. One made a nest right next to the same glass door, where I could witness the events around a rabbits' nest. :D

MrsD, Oustanding Pictures!
 

MrsD-

I was just reviewing this thread again. The pictures are lovely! :D

It really means a lot to me to see pictures of wildlife!
I have not been able to get out to hike in several years now.
I enjoy what comes near my home. Beyond that, I am so thrilled to see pictures of wildlife others are observing. My spirit is immediately lifted!

I apologize for taking this thread a bit OT in mentioning the Robins.

These finches are gorgeous and your enthusiasm for them is palpable in your writings. I am also very fascinated by the nesting fluff offerings available to the birds. Great idea! :D

Thanks again for sharing with us!

Warmly,
DejaVu

Deja, I have many photos in my 3 albums of birds, that I have taken...Have you looked there?

Today right below my window was a lot of movement and I stood up and looked down, and Mr. Goldfinch was working on a catnip plant that is currently blooming. I have a few shots of that, but they are still in the camera. He was about 10 inches from the window pane!

We used to be upNorth during this time of year, so I have not seen the finches doing all these interesting things.

Thanks for the compliments too! I have alot of fun photographing all these bird behaviors.

Your robin comments are welcome here. Our robins will mob our cat, Weezie as she stalks around the nests. Twice she has gone for a fledgling, and you'd be amazed at the bird mob that created. All the birds swarmed together--robins, jays, chickadees, titmice, sparrows. The first mob was 2 yrs ago when Weez was young...she ran up the hill from the creek with a young robin in her mouth with the army of birds swarming her. I saw this as I was on the back porch. She was totally afraid and didn't know what to do. I took the robin from her and put him in a yew bush nearby at the top so she could not get him, again.

This year she had a small mob too, but it was much less dramatic. Weez doesn't kill or eat her catches. She does kill mice and shrews sometimes, but not always. The robins around here are very quiet all of a sudden...maybe have moved on?

Oh, wow, mrsD!
I will take a look at your albums soon! :D

Nature is simply amazing!

I'll bet Weezie wondered what might happen when swarmed with all types of birds! Fascinating!

The robins here are quite aggressive in protecting their perceived territory and especially areas near the nests. They fight for the nest areas every season, although these are in the same location each season. They guard and intercept birds flying too close to their nesting area, heading the other birds off into another direction.

Last night, hubby and I were sitting quietly on the deck and a dove landed on my head. :eek: As soon as it realized I was "alive," it took off in a hurry! We have some doves hang out on the deck railings most evenings.

So many species of beautiful birds around, we are so blessed! :D

As always, thank you, mrsD! :hug:

Warmly,
DejaVu

Helping them build their nests is sweet.

I have had 2 families of sparrows feeding off my window ledge. I put out left over noodles, Life cereal, mashed potatoes and ice cubes when it's hot. The poor little babies are so hot they lay on the ledge panting, it's in the sun. But they come around each day at dawn and dusk to feed. If I don't put anything out for them they peck at the window and cry. It's so cute to see all those little heads in a row looking for me in the window. :winky:

I'll try to get a picture of them and post it.

This is Mr. Goldfinch in the catnip...today right by my window.

Deja, doves will nest in hanging flower baskets that have mossy
Mediums instead of dirt. I've seen photos of them.
Next season you might try providing one on your deck!

Might be fun for you. Doves are simple birds and don't
make complicated nests. I'll search Google for you later
today to illustrate them. We had huge numbers of
doves this winter on the feeding bench we fed on. They had
quite a pecking order similar to chickens. The really like cracked
corn and millet.

Thanks mrsD.

Goldfinches (the UK version, introduced to NZ) are something which I miss here - they always brighten up a winter's day.

I Will Look Into This
 

mrsD- Thanks for the info. I will look into this. I have a pair whom love to hang out on the deck. It sounds easy enough to further accommodate them.
I deeply enjoy observing wildlife. :D
Since my GSD has passed on, I am even more into the various birds.

DH and I are temporarily living in a community where many do not want anyone to attract wildlife, including birds. :confused: Yet, our yards are plentiful with many types of birds and other wildlife, even though we don't feed them. People think we are feeding the birds, rabbits, other animals. We aren't feeding them at all. We only provide a bird bath. The animals enjoy our yards for some reason. When we move again, we will be further out in the country again and not in a shared community setting. We can then interact with more wildlife. If I get another GSD, she may scare off some wildlife. We'll see.:)

I love to hear the birds singing every morning! Bliss!:D

Warmly,
DejaVu

Here are the dove nests:


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Well that is sad... a condo rule or subdivision law?

The fluff certainly would bring birds, and they do love the bird baths. We have two baths, one for big birds and one for little ones. The little one attracts chickadees and the finches mostly and is right outside our screened porch so we can watch easily.

The other is a large shallow cement one that was grandfather's, and is out in the yard about 1/2 way under a little hawthorn tree. That one the robins love, and the grackles. And the doves.
The doves were in it all winter whenever the temps allowed.

The Google page shows many creative dove nesting sites. Some in potted plants and many down the page in the hanging mossy type planters.

And this morning I have another female goldfinch back at the fluff. We had a deluge rain 2 days ago and maybe her nest got wet? The fluff has just dried enough here for her to take again.

I am in an apt bldg. I have AC in my bedroom. For a few seasons a dove made her nest under the AC. About 5 feet from my bed. Each morning I could hear them cooing. That was so sweet. I wish she'd come back. :(

I like the cooing too... it is soothing. ;)

Yes it is. Reminds me a bit of Loons.

Simply Wonderful Medicine!
 

mrsD -

Thanks so much for the information! I will do more research. :D

The neighborhood rules are subdivision rules. :( We are "in between" homes, having sold one in a more rural area. My stepdad had passed and our mom needed some temporary assistance, so we share a home for now. We are searching for our next home where we will have our freedoms again.
At our previous home, we'd even had deer and moose. Twas fun! :D

The rules are amusing because the animals come anyway. Rabbits nest outside my glass door. All types of birds are around. Even had a possum this past winter. (I can see not feeding skunks! I have never seen a skunk in this neighborhood.)

No rules against assisting with nests/nesting here! :winky:

I adore wildlife and being able to observe is so fascinating, so exciting!
Simply wonderful, the best, medicine!:D

I am enjoying your love for wildlife, too! :hug:

With Sincere Gratitude,
DejaVu

Wiix, wow!
 

Wixx -

Wow! What a blessing! :D
I hope she does return to you!:smileypray:
I enjoy the cooing, too. So relaxing!
I feel lost whenever I am without being in touch with nature. I had lived in a large city when in college and for a few years thereafter. Although it had served it's purpose then and was interesting, I was so intent on getting back out into more rural areas. I don't have the nervous system to accommodate living in big cities.:thud:

I hope you are blessed with a Dove, and soon! :hug:

DejaVu

thanks for the cool pictures Mrs D. i love the corn cob holder ideas for birds. i love birds and am going to try this in my own back yard for my little bird friends too. thanks again!

Well, we have had a 2+ week lull on the fluff dispenser, and I almost took it down.

Then a female finch appeared after a heavy rain, and started in on it again. I decided to replace the rather battered fluff remaining with fresh, and I had 2 females arriving at it together today. The yellow male sometimes flies in and sits on a nearby branch guarding the female as she takes the cotton.

I don't know if the nest is done, and chicks fledged, or if she lost it in a storm or to a crow or squirrel and is making another. I don't even know if they have two broods, like robins do and hummers.

But in any event I still have my fluff dispenser to watch during the day and enjoy them.

Brings me joy!
 

Hi mrsD,

I enjoy your posts on your bird observations very much!
Fascinating! :D
With Gratitude,
DejaVu

Last night we had a visit from the newly fledged Goldfinch chicks.
There were at least 3 of them hounding Mrs. Goldfinch for food.

She brought them to our tube feeder in front, at dusk... there was such a commotion. This lasted at least 2 hours. I don't know where they all get the energy to squawk so much!

Perhaps they got the message and learned how to use the feeder finally, since it has been quiet so far today. Hubby was pretty close and could see all the drama. (I was inside the window watching The Artful Detective.) 3 birds with flapping begging wing behaviors, and one lone female who was being mobbed with the endless peeping.

The first recording here, was similar to yesterday's calls:

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only multiply this by 3 at least and you get the idea of how loud it was! ;)

Can you get a pic of them? :confused:

No not in that poor light. They flit about very fast too...very
hard to photograph. But hubby saw them as he was on the back screened porch near the feeder and yew bush they were in.
He said they looked just like the female... but were flapping their wings and begging her to feed them. No other way to tell who was who though as they were are identical to him (in the low light). Only the adult males are bright yellow and the juveniles and females are olive drab.

Could you try? I'd love to see them.

I know the baby sparrows look exactly like the partents just little, tiny balls of fluff. They are easy to pick out. They turn to the Mom , crouch down, and flutter their wings with their mouth open. So cute to watch. :rolleyes:

Once the chicks get their pin feathers in and can fly they are no longer "fluffy"... their appearance changes rapidly.

We did have a newly fledged hummingbird sit at our feeder for about 2 hours day before yesterday... at dusk. This photo is when last rays of sun peeked thru the trees.

Short beak and short tail is a chick. We have them upNorth every summer. This one is very small too and I think is a little male.

He left when it became darker out. I think he was waiting for his mom to bring food. Hummers are raised on insects, not nectar.
But I could see this one taking a sip now and then from his chosen perch. I've seen the female fairly often, but these city birds don't come to the feeders as much as the Northern ones seem to do. I've seen the female in our yew trees, going for insects fairly often, so I kept the feeder up anyway.

Yes, I saw recently, on TV special, a bird that would catch an insect then smash them with their beaks to get rid of the heads then feed them to the babies. Something about the heads, maybe they are poisonous.

Fascinating!
 

Hi mrsD,

Lol! The goldfinch family had to be fascinating! :D Noisy, too! :eek:
Thanks for sharing your/your husband's observations and the sounds of the birds. I enjoy this thread immensely.

The picture of the hummingbird on the feeder is also fascinating! :D

I am lucky to have birds singing morning and evening here. :D
When I am elsewhere, I miss hearing/watching the birds so much!

Thanks again, mrsD, for sharing so much in this thread!

With Admiration and Gratitude,
DejaVu