Nesting up the wrong tree?

[Tony_InDevon]

Hi Folks,

I thought you may be interested in the RSPB link, it's getting even harder to know where to look for Twites these days

http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/14_august_2003_nesting_up_the_wrong_tree_.asp?Comp onentID=42177&SourcePageID=18180#1

[steve_nova]

Hi Tony. A bird that I have heard of yet know absolutely nothing about so thanks for that.
Interesting change of behaviour for certain in fact really quite radical. It will be great to hear if they come up with a reason for it.

[Michael Frankis]

I've got two guesses:

1. Making opportunistic use of a newly created habitat (conifer plantations) in the absence of the species that would normally occupy it (Lesser Redpoll, Siskin)

2. Avoiding the plague of hedgehogs introduced on the island

Michael

PS anyone who hasn't seen Twite, there's usually a few flocks on the Northumberland coast in winter

[Tony_InDevon]

Steve - my pleasure

Michael - thanks for that info, they always look so cute in photo's, but I've never managed to see one.

[Andrew]

Are Siskins common in Scotland, what I mean is are you more likely to see a Twite than a Siskin in Scotland?

[Michael Frankis]

Hi Andrew,

Depends on where you go in Scotland. Siskins are much the commoner in most of mainland Scotland - abundant wherever there's spruce plantations in particular.

Twites have a strong coastal bias, they're common on the Hebrides, Orkney, Shetland and the rest of the north & west coasts; additionally there's also some Twites inland on high moorland, but they're more scattered there, not easy to find.

Twites are also more widespread in winter, particularly down the east coast of both Scotland and England, as there's a lot that breed in Norway that arrive to winter here. Many of the Scottish breeders also move a little south in winter, to Lancs, North Wales

Michael

[Gerry Hooper]

Didn't Hen Harriers start nesting in conifers rather than on the ground in Ireland a few years ago?
Haven't heard anything since then about it.

[Beverlybaynes]

Boy is that RSPB site hard to read! Every time I scroll down to try and read the text, the pictures flash on in the background and make the text completely illegible!

Probably a webtv thing - - oh, well . . .

[Tony_InDevon]

Hi Veverly, heres the text

"14 August 2003

Nesting up the wrong tree?
Why is a bird that normally nests in heather starting to nest in trees on a Scottish island? The twite, a small brown finch, is currently baffling scientists in Scotland after they recently discovered its unusual behaviour in South Uist, Outer Hebrides.

The first ever Scottish study into the twite is being conducted in South Uist where researchers are trying to find out why 60% of twite nests are now being found high in the trees. Despite a breeding population of around 66,000 breeding pairs in the UK, remarkably little is known about them.

RSPB researcher, Nick Wilkinson, is intrigued, ‘Twite can vary their nesting habits but this is extremely unusual. We expect to find them in heather moorland, so it’s quite bizarre to find such a dense population in trees. This is the first piece of work in Scotland on twite and it’s the first record of this odd kind of behaviour’.

We expect to find them in heather moorland, so it’s quite bizarre to find such a dense population in treesNick is in the first year of an extensive three-year study into breeding, nesting and dietary habits of the birds. He continues, ‘At this stage we have absolutely no idea why so many are nesting in conifer plantations. We know that they need to nest close to good feeding areas that provide an abundance of seeds. But we don’t know why they’re nesting amongst fuller vegetation’.

It seems this species may no longer be living up to its Gaelic name of ‘Gaelan-beinne’, which means ‘linnet of the mountains’ as it adopts leafier surroundings. The research continues."

[Mike D]

We also get a few twite on the coastal areas of Suffolk and Norfolk in the winter. Several years ago they were quite plentiful just north of Dunwich. Haven't checked them out lately though.
Siskin are mainly (only?) seen in Norfolk during the winter in large flocks, I've seen perhaps 100 birds at a time along with redpolls in Norwich, feeding off alder seeds.

[Tony_InDevon]

Thanks Mike, Suffolk and Norfolk are a lot closer for me ;)

[MarkHows]

They can often be seen at Holkham, at other places along the Norfolk coast such as Tichwell, Holme etc. durin the winter.
Mark

[Harry Hussey]

Hi Gerry,
Yes,tree-nesting by Hen Harriers has taken place for the last 10 years or more in Northern Ireland.There is a paper about it in a recent Irish Birds(forget which one).Think that a few pairs have now adopted the habit,which has yet to be noted in the Republic.
Harry H