Help! House Finches Moving In! (1 Viewer)

Hello!

I'm so glad I found this place - maybe you can help me!!

My name is Karen & I live in Toronto, Canada. Just last week I went out & bought myself a lovely hanging basket fushia plant & this week, it seems I have a couple new tenants moving in! They are a beautiful pair of house finches!

The problem is that I actually use my porch quite a bit - I work split shifts and usually go out to water the plants in the morning around 11am and then come home around 3pm and spend a couple hours reading outside then leave again around 5:30pm to return again at about 10pm when I just like to sit outside in the quiet for a little while. My other half is a smoker and he pops outside to smoke every hour or so until he goes to bed around 3am. I'm not sure what to do!

Will our schedules be a problem for the birds once they actually lay? It seems as though our sporadic presence on the porch so far hasn't slowed down their nest-building... When they are there and I go outside, they take off rather quickly but it hasn't deterred them so far. Yesterday I'd say they had about 1/3 of the nest done and when I got home tonight it looks as though they may need another day or two to finish. (although I understand the female actually does all the building while the male just sings & keeps her company).

I have concerns...
I am concerned about watering the plant too in order to keep it alive for cover & protection once eggs are laid. I don't really care about the plant in general - I'm actually quite willing to let it die if that's the best course of action... There is room for me to water it and not wet the nest at all & I have tied the basket down so that if it's super-windy it won't fall off. Will I be able to water it at all once eggs are laid? Will I be able to water it at all once chicks have hatched? Does the mother ever leave the nest once she lays? Does she ever leave the nest once they have hatched? Is there a constant parental presence? Would they abandon the chicks?

Will my constant in-and-out be too stressful on the mother and will she leave the nest for long periods during the all-important incubation period?

I have so many questions but I guess I 'll just start there...

Please give me some guidance - I've never had house finches as tenants before! I look forward to getting your advice and hope to be able to get a couple pictures of the nest while they're away looking for suitable building materials tomorrow.

Until then, thanks for helping me out!
Yours truly,
Karen & the Finches.

Hello, Karen, and welcome to Birdforum from all of us on staff here!

You've certainly come to the right place to get your answers. While I don't have them, someone will certainly be along soon (perhaps in the morning, perhaps sooner) to give you some answers.

However, please don't be surprised if an American tells you to dump the nest -- House Finches are species that is not native to North America, and consequently is not protected in the US (all native birds are). And they often manage to nest in places that deny native species nesting places. Many just refuse to have anything to do with them.

I don't know what the laws in Canada are regarding non-native species.

I congratulate you, though, on caring enough about birds to find out the answers to your questions. They are a well-loved, but declining, species in England, and one of our many English members will surely have the answers you're looking for.

In the meantime, I hope you'll take a little time to get acquainted with everything BF has to offer. Enjoy yourself!

Hi Karen (& the Finches!)

First, Welcome to BirdForum.

(OOPS! Originally made a significant mistake in this part of the post. Hence the edit...)

Luckily House Finches are generally fairly willing to share their habitat with humans, as long as we keep a bit of distance and try not to appear threatening in any way. So, as long as you try to appear calm, and keep some distance (as much as possible, I obviously know this may be a problem in your case!), they should be fine. 6 feet is absolutely the minimum distance you should keep at any point of time. Hence, you shouldn't water the plants in that period - hopefully they will survive; just remember that they will probably get plenty of fertilizer for that period . When using the porch, sit down and try not to talk too much. The likelyhood is that your small visitors wont be too bothered then. If possible, also try to minimize the use of the porch in the relatively short period where they inhabit the nest. The eggs hatch after ~2 weeks, and the chicks stay in the nest for ca. the same amount of time afterwards; i.e. no more than ca. a month in total. It may be wise to move the plant afterwards, as they will often nest several times in a season. In any case, I'll wish you good luck. There is certainly a possibility for some great moments that few get to witness...

Hello Karen and a warm welcome to you.

Rasmus pretty much said it all. I might add that, if this schedule of yours is fairly routine and an everyday thing, the finches were aware of your comings and goings before they decided to nest there. So as long as there are no overt threats to them, they should be okay. I've sat on my back deck in the evenings within a yard of a carolina nest box and my presence did not upset the wrens at night at all. Please do keep us posted.

Thanks so much for all the help so far! This place is great!

For an update to those who are interested...
I've been stuck on double shifts this week so haven't had any time here during the late morning & early afternoon to check up on Nina and Fitzgerald (yes, I've named them! Nina after Nina Simone for the girl and Fitzgerald after Ella for the boy - my husband is laughing at me!!)
Neither bird was present when I got up around 11am but I did have a quick look into the planter to see if any progress was being made - it's really quite hard to tell though so I'm gonna guess no. Then I came home around 4pm and had another quick look because neither bird seemed to be around & I couldn't hear them anywhere near. It looks as if they have done little building during this day or maybe even none at all. Is it possible they have decided they don't want us as landlords anymore? Do you think it could be they've realized our schedules are rather unpredictable and not great for raising babies? Is it possible they have decided to abandon this project in favour of a better location? Would they just do that after expending all that energy building?

In any case, and just in case they do decide to move in, I do have a few more questions regarding my pair of finches.
Once it gets dark, and we go out on the porch, will we startle sleeping mum off the nest? And when exactly can I expect them to start sleeping over? Once the eggs are laid do they both spend the night until the babies fledge?

So many questions! I know someone out there has some answers & I'm so grateful to all of you for sharing your knowledge.

I'm not sure I understand correctly, but I was reading Beverly's post, and if I'm not mistaken the only House bird that I know of that is not native to North America is the House Sparrow... If the House Finch is also non-native to NA, well, I'll be danged!

Toonces, just asking, Who is Nina Simone? is she a celeb of some sort in Canada?

gthang said:

Who is Nina Simone?

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She was an American jazz/blues singer - she died a year or so ago. You're obviously far too young to remember her.

gthang said:

I'm not sure I understand correctly, but I was reading Beverly's post, and if I'm not mistaken the only House bird that I know of that is not native to North America is the House Sparrow... If the House Finch is also non-native to NA, well, I'll be danged!

Click to expand...

The House Finch was introduced into the east (of the US) in the 1960's, and ever since it has been expanding it's range westward. It is likely, that the ranges of the western (natural) population will soon meet the (introduced) of the east - if it hasn't already happened. The House Finches in Toronto would belong to the eastern (and introduced) population. Anyway, I actually made the same mistake initially...

Like I said, I'll Be Danged!!!

if the two of three House birds I've seen are any indication, the third might also be a introduction? (Both the House Sparrow and House Finch are on my list, as is the House Wren)

:-C Boy, is my face RED (even if the icon is blue)!!!! And brother, am I embarrassed!! :h?:

That's what a too-long day and a too-long evening will do for you! I was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!

Yes, I was writing about House SPARROWS, in spite of the fact that Karen was talking about FINCHES!! Sheesh!

Karen, please accept my apologies for giving you totally incorrect information about your finches.

And thanks so much, guys, for getting things corrected. I'll now retreat to my little corner, out of the way . . . . (I feel so stupid . . . .).

Hey, Beverly, don't feel bad, we all make misteaks...

Heck, i can't even tell the difference anymore between house sparrows and purple finches... erm, excuse me make that House Finches and Purple Finches... d'oh...

robinm said:

She was an American jazz/blues singer - she died a year or so ago. You're obviously far too young to remember her.

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You're right that I'm too young to remember her, that's because she wasn't discussed in history class! I know about most of the presidents, and even Ray Charles, but other famous people like Tony Blair, aren't even in the history books yet, as far as I know!

Beverlybaynes said:

That's what a too-long day and a too-long evening will do for you! I was WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!!

Yes, I was writing about House SPARROWS, in spite of the fact that Karen was talking about FINCHES!! Sheesh!

Click to expand...

Actually, you were only wrong in saying that the House Finch isn't native to North America - they certainly are. However, you are actually right (even if it was a coincidence) in saying that the House Finches seen by Karen in Toronto are introduced. They certainly are, as you can read in post #9.

Since the 1940's...

Karen,

My Audubon guide maintains that House Finch was introduced in Long Island in the 1940's; established itself by the 1960's in urban New York. One visited my window sill, here in New York City on May 8th. According to the same source, Toronto would be close the extreme northwestern extent of its range in the eastern part of North Amerca.

Good luck,
Arthur Pinewood

Now i'm getting confused. Are House FInches native in North America or not?!?!?

gthang said:

Now i'm getting confused. Are House FInches native in North America or not?!?!?

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Take a second look at my post #9. House Finches ARE native to North America, but NOT the eastern part, where they were introduced some 50 years ago.

just got in...

I just got home from work - it's about 11pm or so and am anxious to check and see if any progress was made on the nest today but my feet are killing me so it'll have to wait for a little bit.

I so wish I had been home today to see & hear the comings and goings so I'd know if they'd been around but here is a picture of THE hanging planter and as you can see, it's pretty close to everything on the porch and I will not be able to avoid it when I water all the plants. A sticky spot I'm in to be sure!

So does anyone know if birds (especially my little house finches Nina & Fitzgerald) routinely abandon one nest in progress in favour of a better perhaps more secure location? I can't imagine that to be true, especially after they've invested a week building... Are there birds that do that and if so, I'm interested to find out.

Thanks for all the help thus far & I have quite enjoyed the discussion on whether my new friends are native or not. All I know is that growing up here in Toronto I've always seen them around. We do have purple finches (more rare) & sparrows in this neighbourhood too and just sitting on the porch in one afternoon I can probably see house finches, sparrows, cardinals, blue jays, red-winged blackbirds, and perhaps its a goldfinch pair? The goldfinches I'm not too sure about - I just know there is a big flash of yellow that flies by on a pretty small sparrow-sized bird and I've only seen that one maybe a handful of times so it's hard to get a real look at it. I guess you can tell I live in an area that has a fair amount of trees & green stuff huh?

Anyway, I'm gonna put my feet up but look forward to any further advice about my nest-building-balcony-hanging-planter-house finches and what I should do about them.

Toonces said:

So does anyone know if birds (especially my little house finches Nina & Fitzgerald) routinely abandon one nest in progress in favour of a better perhaps more secure location? I can't imagine that to be true, especially after they've invested a week building... Are there birds that do that and if so, I'm interested to find out.

Click to expand...

No matter how much time invested in building a nest, they will leave it if they feel insecure about the spot. This is actually rather common and counts for all birds: Housefinches, Hummingbirds, Eagles, and everything in between. Housefinches will sometimes built several nests simultaneously at different locations, not choosing THE ONE until rather late into the building process. Do note that in House Finches females do the building, and only sometimes (but far from always) the male helps a bit.

Nice to 'meet' you and to hear about Nina and Fitzgerald: I do hope they stay as it would be lovely for you to watch them and be a part of them raising their chicks. Being close to nature always feels so rewarding