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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Bluetit Courtship Behaviour (1 Viewer)

nobby

Well-known member
I have a couple of nestbox cams installed in my garden and was wondering if anybody knows if it is the male or female who finds a suitable nestbox? One of a pair seems to enter a nestbox and then calls out. The other bird then enters and within seconds the first bird in leaves.
In the enclosed a photo the bird on the left entered 2nd I presume this is the female she has a slightly mottled blue top of her head.

Is there an easy way to tell the sexes apart?

I have also seen what I think is the male doing a strange dance in front of the female.
This involves standing on a branch falling forwards and swinging all the way around to where he started. This is repeated 2 or 3 times.

You can see other stills from my web cam and "live" stills when online at my site.
http://uk.geocities.com/[email protected]/nest_box.htm

Brett
 

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Hi Nobby

I too have nest box cams installed. To answer the question regarding choosing of the nest box it seems to be a joint effort i guess

It is generally the male that dances round or near the nest site with slow and obvious wing beats which resemble more of a flutter. The male also tends to show off it's breeding plumage including flashing it's white cheek patches at the female.

Invariably the Male seems to enter the box first and then if the female is happy she will enter the box, at this point the Male will almost always exit the box which then leads the female to do a "dance" of some fashion on the floor. During the nesting period it seems that if the male is in the box the bird soon exits when the female enters but I do not know why. I would say though that like all bird behaviour it does not always happen that way round!

Good luck with this years nesting.
 
Stephen - how can you tell which is the male and which the female? This is something that has been mentioned several times on our website - one time is Friday 21st February 2003.
 
Elizabeth

In truth as discussed in the past it is difficult in the "Field" but there are a few pointers such as mentioned on your site. Plumage difference,behaviour, size (but I find this almost impossible to distinguish).

I find a good way to get tips on bird sexes and ages is visiting ringing groups as these have a very good knowledge of what to look for.
 
Sleeper said:
Elizabeth

In truth as discussed in the past it is difficult in the "Field" but there are a few pointers such as mentioned on your site. Plumage difference,behaviour, size (but I find this almost impossible to distinguish).

I find a good way to get tips on bird sexes and ages is visiting ringing groups as these have a very good knowledge of what to look for.

To save going back to the thread that Pete mentioned earlier - this is what was said then, in one of the posts of the thread:

Sexing Blue Tits, even in the hand when trapped for ringing, can be really difficult. Outside the breeding season, the most reliable method is the wing length and even then there is a lot of overlap and only extremes can be reliably sexed. Generally males are brighter than females, but sometimes you get a really bright bird and think it ought to be a male but then it has a wing lenght within the female range. Then I give up trying to sex Blue Tits! In the breeding season, you can use the presence of a brood patch (females) and cloacal protuberance (males) to sex the birds.
 
Thanks everyone looks like the female from her behaviour is the one with the mottled pattern on her head. This should make her easy to ID.
I presume it is only the female who builds the nest?
I noticed yesterday that she started making a few lone visits removing a few wood chips from the bottom of the box.
Brett
 

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Yes, as far as we are aware from our observations (and what we have read) it is the female alone who builds the nest.

We had a funny experience in March 2002, when one bird was removing nesting materials as fast as another was taking it in, and also pecking away at the floor of the box. We wondered if it was being stolen for another nest somewhere. I emailed Chris Mead, and he wrote back promptly and helpfully - he said:

Dear Elizabeth

How about the secon bird is the lame mate of the first. He is working a
bit behund her and us still in clearing old rubbish out of the nest
mdoe. Hence material out and hammering at the floor to get parasites
out.

All shou;d beome sweetness and light in a day or two!

Cheers


(This is a copy of his reply - I am preserving it in his memory)!
 
Elizabeth Bigg said:
Yes, as far as we are aware from our observations (and what we have read) it is the female alone who builds the nest.

We had a funny experience in March 2002, when one bird was removing nesting materials as fast as another was taking it in, and also pecking away at the floor of the box. We wondered if it was being stolen for another nest somewhere. I emailed Chris Mead, and he wrote back promptly and helpfully - he said:

Dear Elizabeth

How about the secon bird is the lame mate of the first. He is working a
bit behund her and us still in clearing old rubbish out of the nest
mdoe. Hence material out and hammering at the floor to get parasites
out.

All shou;d beome sweetness and light in a day or two!

Cheers


(This is a copy of his reply - I am preserving it in his memory)!
Hi Elizaeth, well worth preserving, there will never be another like the big man
in stature, or in his great depth of knowledge.
bert.
 
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