Northern Mockingbird Nestlings
“Nest Cams” are all the rage these days. Amazing web cams around the country have been set up to allow people worldwide to observe the behavior of nesting great blue herons, bald eagles, hummingbirds, owls, and more. After the excitement of viewing this behavior on the web, you may want to head out to observe nesting birds in your own yard and beyond. Before you do so, though, learn a few tips to be sure you leave the birds happy and undisturbed as they go about their daily lives.
These tips are adapted from Cornell Ornithology Lab’s NestWatch Nest Monitor Code of Conduct. Click here to read it in its entirety.
- Take care not to startle birds as you approach. This can cause them to knock eggs or nestlings off the nest as they fly away, or even abandon a nest altogether. If a parent is on a nest, wait a few minutes to see if they leave on their own – that’s the best time to get a little closer and observe.
- Don’t handle birds, nests, or eggs. They’re fragile and easily damaged. Use binoculars or the zoom lens on your camera to get a close-up look. (Check out this cool motion-activated outdoor camera from Audubon.)
- The best time to visit nests up close is afternoon. Don’t visit nests first thing in the morning. Mornings can be chilly, and eggs or nestlings left uncovered by a disturbed parent bird can get cold and suffer damage. Don’t visit nests at dusk or at night, either. This is when females return for the night, and you don’t want to scare them off. (Owls are the exception here, as owls leave the nest in the evening.)
- Avoid nests entirely the first few days after eggs are laid, and again after the nestlings hatch. These are crucial times for successful nesting, and startling the parent birds at this time could cause them to desert the nest.
Yellow-Crowned Night Heron
What if I find a fallen nest, egg, or baby bird? In most cases, it’s really best to let nature take its course with nesting birds. Nests knocked from trees by wind or storms may not have been securely built in the first place. Eggs fallen to the ground may be there for a reason – they could be infertile or belong to a different “nest-stealing” species. If you do want to help, though, here are some tips:
A Barn Swallow feeds young nestlings.
- If you find a fallen nest on the ground after a storm, with or without intact eggs, you can try placing it back up into a tree nearby. It’s possible the birds may return to it, but don’t be surprised if they simply move on and try again. Nature is very adaptable.
- If you find a fallen egg on the ground near a nest, you can pick up and place it back in the nest. Don’t worry about the myth that your scent will keep the birds from returning – birds have poorly developed senses of smell. Do be aware, though, that birds sometimes push eggs from their nests on purpose. If you continue to find them on the ground, just leave them there and let nature take its course.
- If you find a baby bird on the ground, don’t pick it up immediately; instead just observe it for a few minutes. It may be a fledgling, out of the nest and learning to fly. If it’s clearly a helpless nestling, you can pick up and put it back in the nest (again, your hands are fine), but remember that baby birds falling from nests are also a part of nature weeding out the weak to let the strongest survive.
Do you have nesting behavior in your yard yet? Tell us what you’re seeing and how you safely observe it in the comments below!
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
A robin is building a nest on the bend in the gutter downspout outside my bedroom window. I can see it from the side of the window furthest away from the nest. I noticed it when the bird flew toward the window with a mouthful of nesting materials. There was a nest in that spot last year, too. I haven’t looked from the ground below. The nest is on the second story of the house. I hope that it is a successful nest.
I spent several hours clearing old leaves and twigs from yard and came upon a nest with 2 eggs. I covered them back best I could but I did notice 2 birds watching me the entire morning. I believe it was their nest. will the eggs be abandoned or can I provide them with another nesting option? I can’t find any info on net and I’m tired.
Kay Armstrong Baker May 12, 2013
We had a robin’s nest in our holly next to the garage door. A week ago there were four eggs in it. During last week I observed the mother sitting on the next and later on the eggs were still there. Today, I checked again and they were gone. There were no eggs shells beneath the nest to indicate they had fallen from the next or an animal had eaten them. Are robins startled when humans observe them? Do they then abandon the nest? Can they move the eggs to some place else? Also I observed a female robin a couple of days ago just sitting in the back yard and fluffing her feathers as if she was going to make a next in the yard>
Hope you can shed some light on the above questions as I’m afraid we paid too much attention to her and the nest.
Thanks Jill for covering this as it is a very important topic. I think the precautions listed by Cornell Lab for nest watchers is just as applicable for nest photographers and I hope anyone intending to photograph nests will go to the full list as noted by Jill.
Comment on Red-winged blackbird-I think what this red-winged blackbird is saying is:
“Beat it, can’t you see I’m trying to dust here”
Margot Turrell
My bluebirds have 5 beautiful white eggs in their nest in a house on a pole. I watched them before Easter as they came and went, but no eggs appeared until after Easter. I have seen no other bird enter their house, which faces my kitchen window where I can watch often. The eggs are the right size for bluebird eggs, but they are all white. I’m eager to see what hatches.
At my grandson’s house two years ago a barn swallow nest with babies fell during a storm down to the porch below. I hollowed out a gallon plastic mild jug on one side and nailed it to the corner where the nest had been. My grandson helped me put the babies and nesting material into the jug. The parents did return to raise the babies. I made photos of their little heads sticking out of the side of the milk jug asking for food.
a birds nest fell out of our tree last night, it was caused by strong winds two eggs were broken and one was still intact, ive put it in the nest and placed that back in the tree, im sure its in a different spot than it origanly was does that matter to much and if so can someone PLEASE tell me EXACTLY what i must do to care for it ASAP, and if i say… manage to hatch it, how will i feed it? can i cut up worms and feed it that way? PLEASE HELP
If a sitting long-tailed tit is disturbed and flies away from the clutch of eggs in the nest, is there a good chance that she will return in time sufficiently to reheat the eggs?
A couple of days ago I was pulling out branches from my euonymous as they were growing under the facia of my house. As I pulled I discovered a birds nest with 5 small white eggs with a few dark speckles. I did not touch the eggs or the nest. I pushed the branches as far back as I could to protect the eggs. Everything was fine yesterday but today I went out and all the eggs were gone. Is it possible for a parent bird to relocate their eggs to another nest? I’m wondering if a cat got to them.
A robin built her nest in a snowball bush beside my mothers porch. 3 blue eggs lay in the nest. I got some great pics when she was out of the nest. However, each time we came or went mother bird would leave the nest. Then during the big wind storm we had here in the East the nest was tipped and two eggs on the ground. Both eggs were broken leaving only one. I propped the nest up for the last bird egg but the mother was gone the entire day but came back during another storm to protect her egg then disappeared altogether. I think building her nest so close to the porch, the storm and my trying to help all contributed to her abandoning the egg. It still sits in the nest all alone
How long do hummingbirds leave there nest?
will they loose the babies? if more then an hour or so?
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