RECENT STORIES

Local finishes infantryman training ( Army & Air Force Hometown News )
Green Mountain grads commissioned ( Army & Air Force Hometown News )
Local commissioned as a second lieutenant ( Army & Air Force Hometown News )
MorningStar in Lakewood announces grand opening ( Lisa Maten )
RRCC faculty named theatre educator of the year ( Red Rocks Community College )

share a story | more postings »

YourHub.com \\ Lakewood \\ Stories \\ Photos \\ Nature

Bird mystery abounds in backyard

e-mail to a friend | print this | link to this

NEXT › ‹ PREVIOUS

Contributed by: Irene Watts on 3/24/2008

We have five birdhouses around our yard but only one is chosen by our avian cousins. The first two years the preferred house went up, a pair of fiesty house wrens called it home and entertained us both summers besides ridding the junipers of spider mites. The third year chickadees drove out the wrens after a raucuous battle.

Now, this spring I anxiously waited to see if wrens or chickadees would win the epic war. To my utter amazement, a pair of red breasted nuthatches arrived ahead of both and claimed the little rental their own after pecking the doorway larger. I quickly bought some peanuts and suet blocks to encourage them to stay. Then I set up my camera to capture these lovely visitors.

I could only film the female, as the brighter male was too shy to come near the birdhouse while I was around. I quickly came to the conclusion the female of that species calls the shots. The male is only kept around for, well you know. I'll wait and see if he feeds her while she's sitting on the eggs and if he helps babysit their offspring.

Here are some photos of our various houses. The winning house is behind the branches of our elderberry bush, visible enough for me to watch from our patio. If you are building your own bird house as I have, be sure to glue little sticks on the inside wall below the entrance for the babies to climb out. Also, the hole should be no larger than 1 1/4" so garden snakes or squirrels can't get the eggs. Ventilation holes near the roof are necessary. A hinged roof for cleanout is helpful. The floor should be at least 4" down from the entrance.

[Report this as objectionable content.]

SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above story

Current Rating

Based on 1 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the story

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

Thank you! Your comment has been updated.

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Irene Watts

Lakewood , CO

Irene Watts has posted 9 stories and 0 comments since joining on 1/15/2008. Irene Watts 's average story rating is 5.

view profile » view other postings from Irene Watts »

SAVE AND SHARE THIS STORY

digg	Google
del.icio.us	Yahoo!
reddit	Newsvine

What is this?

STORY RSS FEEDS

All stories

All stories in Lakewood

All stories by Irene Watts

WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?

Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyone what events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

Loading Ad