2010 Nesting Season - Biodiversity Centre for Wildlife Studies

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Wrens House Wrens and Bewick’s Wrens (Figure 18) select tree cavities for nesting as well as nest boxes. The House Wren male makes many trips to fill a cavity with small twigs which often stick out of the hole. He may fill up to four cavities in an effort to attract a female who will select one site and add the lining to the nest. Incubation times combined for both species average 14-16 days and fledging times average 14-22 days. European Starling Starlings readily use any opening in a tree trunk (Figure 19), or for that matter almost anywhere they can find security. If you live in an area where deciduous trees, especially black cottonwoods and trembling aspens are abundant, you will easily find their nest sites. It is best to watch these birds from a distance with binoculars as the adults can be very wary and will not enter the nest site if they suspect an intruder. The greatest activity, like many other cavity nesting species takes place once the young have hatched. One sign to look for is “whitewash” (Figure 20) as nestlings “squirt” out the cavity and this excrement is visible at the cavity opening and around the trunk of the tree. Both parents make frequent trips to feed the nestlings and it is amazing how quickly insect food can be located. As the nestlings compete for food, up to three of them may be seen at the opening of the cavity and this is a good time to record their stage of development as some are sparsely feathered on the head or completely feathered. A nestling close to fledging has a mature look about it, and is brown in colour. Incubation time averages 11-12 days and fledging time averages 18-21 days. Figure 19. Three nestling European Starlings being fed at nest entrance in a natural cavity in a mature black cottonwood tree. Creston, BC. 16 May 2006 (Photo by Linda M. Van Damme). Figure 20. The amount of “whitewash” on the boards below a cavity in a barn suggests that European Starlings are nesting and probably into their second brood. Osoyoos, BC. 3 August 1998 (Photo by R. Wayne Campbell). 101
House Sparrow Generally speaking House Sparrows (Figure 21) tend to nest in urban and rural residential and farmland areas and will use any structure that allows access, so not necessarily a tree cavity. Their nests are a bulky structure which appear messily built. As common as sparrows are in some parts of the province, they are not a commonly reported nesting species. They readily take over nest boxes set out for other species and the majority of our records come from nest boxes or fledged young being fed. The same documentation applies to this species as the ones described above. Incubation time averages 10-14 days and fledging time averages 14-15 days. General Tips for Inspecting Cavity-nesting Birds (1) Re-visit known nesting trees for species such as Lewis’s Woodpecker (Figure 22), Western Bluebird, Mountain Bluebird, European Starling, and Mountain Chickadee which may return to the same cavity year after year. Some excavators that are known to return to the same tree and create a new cavity include Pileated Woodpecker, Pygmy Nuthatch, Northern Flicker, and sapsuckers. Figure 21. In city and residential areas, House Sparrows are quick to take over any suitable crevice that provides some depth for a nest and protection from wind and rain. Delta BC. 4 December 2010 (Photo by Mark Nyhof). Figure 22. A natural cavity in an old ponderosa pine snag near Nicola Lake was used by a pair of Lewis’s Woodpeckers for nesting for at least 27 years before it finally fell down. Newgate BC. 1 July 1997 (Photo by Mark Nyhof). 102
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BRITISH COLUMBIA NEST RECORD SCHEME
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Contents Biodiversity and Breeding
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Many participants in 2010 went into
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The 2010 Nesting Season Summary The
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Noteworthy Events New Breeding Spec
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14). This site is at least 280 km s
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Island. Ten were found in trees (Do
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August 21: Chris Siddle observed a
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By the mid-1940s, the breeding rang
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The Say’s Phoebe nests in a wide
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Quentin Brown, while traveling in t
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Often it is helpful to know when a
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While American Crow and Gray Jay, a
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There is always a bias in reporting
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Figure 53. Finding a nest with five
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Transferring historical breeding re
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Figure 60. Finding Red-winged Black
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Filling in the Blanks Quality of In
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For convenience, many people are us
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An increasing number of participant
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Historical Information As time perm
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Figure 81. Pied-billed Grebe nest c
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Figure 87. Most breeding records fo
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Family Turdidae - Bluebirds, Thrush
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Family Cardinalidae - Grosbeaks, Bu
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K Rhonda Karliukson - 11, Clive Kee
Page 53 and 54: T Eric M. Tait - 3, Adrian and Caro
Page 55 and 56: Western Grebe and Clark’s Grebe S
Page 57 and 58: Great Blue Heron While some Great B
Page 59 and 60: abandoning their nests due to human
Page 61 and 62: were being assembled and set out. T
Page 63 and 64: Blackbirds Five species of Icterids
Page 65 and 66: Monitoring Nesting Birds of Prey Si
Page 67 and 68: North Kootenay Lake (Woodbury area)
Page 69 and 70: Rita Wege (Shoreacres). Hundreds of
Page 71 and 72: after we left for our birding day.
Page 73 and 74: Four for Fore? Gary Davidson found
Page 75 and 76: It Won’t Happen Next Year Pat Hue
Page 77 and 78: Differences Resolved Amicably Ralph
Page 79 and 80: A Strange and Sad Tale Laurie Rockw
Page 81 and 82: that there was a fire just above th
Page 83 and 84: Publications in Short Each year tho
Page 85 and 86: Use of the British Columbia Nest Re
Page 87 and 88: Common species (e.g., Canada Goose,
Page 89 and 90: Figure 154. In upgrading their hold
Page 91 and 92: Appendix 2. Guide to Timing of Visi
Page 93 and 94: Appendix 4. Correct Terminology for
Page 95 and 96: Sub-adult A young bird that require
Page 97 and 98: Ducks Cavity-nesting duck species s
Page 99 and 100: The summary in Table 1 gives averag
Page 101 and 102: insert its head inside the hole, in
Page 103: Figure 16. Spotting an adult Mounta
Page 108: www.wildlifebc.org
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2010 Nesting Season - Biodiversity Centre for Wildlife Studies

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