(no subject)

[celticdragonfly]

I think we may have baby birds in the birdhouse we put up outside the kitchen bay windows. I heard a lot of cheeping this morning, and when I was looking at the right angle, I could see a bit of beak peeking out. And there was a white fluffy baby-looking feather down in the grass.

I am not sure what species of bird would be having baby birds in the second half of December!

UPDATE: The birds I'd most expect to use that birdhouse, from what I've seen around here, would be house finches. I've been looking them up online. They apparently frequently do two broods a season, and have a couple weeks in-the-egg time. But the only source I found with seasonal dates said they lay eggs February to August. So, still stumped.

Comments

[archangelbeth]

Perhaps they are birds who are pleased with the warmth from the house, and have a bird feeder around?

It would be evolutionarily advantageous for them to be able to raise a winter brood, after all!

Either that, or they're alien spies who got the seasons wrong.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

Could be. I'd expect it more if we were still keeping the birdfeeders active. The big one that hung in the backyard the kids pulled it off the hook and pulled off the base. Karl's hoping to fix it, and get holes drilled in the brick over the living room windows so he can mount it up there out of their reach. There is one on the kitchen window - but it's been empty a while. I'd like to go refill it later today, but I'm not sure if that'd scare away the parent birds.

[ziactrice.livejournal.com]

What size is the opening hole and what is the interior volume of the house? Certain birds prefer certain opening diameters and interior volumes, so that could help on the ID.

Male finches have the best mating song protocol - very pretty, and they make up and adapt new bits as the season lengthens, so I could tell when I had new ones against the original ones at my house in PA.

[celticdragonfly.livejournal.com]

I don't have much of an idea on the interior volume - and I think if I went out and got up on a chair to measure the opening hole, it would upset the birds. But it looks something sorta like this -
http://www.ohiou.edu/news/pix/BIRDHOUSE.JPG

It's just something simple I got - I think at Walmart? Petsco? - when we were sealing the vents against nesting birds.

Maybe later I can take a picture.

[archangelbeth]

Perhaps you could put out a small plastic dish of feed, and see what comes out to get at it? Then it'd be further away from the babies...

(Though I've looked at robins, and I don't think the mother bird stayed away long... But that was in the spring when it was warm, so could be a good idea to be careful and reassuring that Big Person = food instead of predator, yeah...)

Good luck!

[joyeuse13.livejournal.com]

baby birds in the second half of December

We've had such an unseasonably warm month, my tulips and hyacinths are sprouting. Which would be lovely, but I know they'll freeze to death next month. :(