Blue tit nesting behaviour (newbie/non-birder question) (1 Viewer)

Mangetout · Mar 24, 2006

Hi there

I have this year set up a homebuilt birdbox camera in my garden and am delighted that it is now inhabited by Bue Tits, well one of them at least, I'm not sure.

There's one bird that spends all night resting in the box but my kids say they have seen two birds inside the box at times; I have definitely witnessed the bird inside the box being passed a piece of nesting material by another outside.

OK; my question: is it the female that is spending the night inside the box? Are the observed instances of a second bird likely to be all the same individual, or are they perhaps multiple prospective mates bringing offerings/bribes of nesting material? OTOH, If this is actually a mated pair, why is the other bird not spending the night inside the box for shelter at least?

OK, that was at least three questions. Sorry.

Cathy H · Mar 24, 2006

Hi Mangetout,

I'm no expert in blue tit behaviour, but it sounds to me like the bird in the box at night is roosting, and jusr using it to spend the night. It may or may not lead to a nest being built. If your kids see a pair checking it out during the day, you may well have a pair of future tenants. In our garden, we get birds checking it out for ages before a pair settle in, and then you'll see them chase off any possible competitors. You'll know when they have chicks that have hatched cos they'll be ferrying back and forth loads of times a day, and it will be hard to miss. I hope I've helped a bit at least. Good luck with the nest box.

Cheers, :t:

By the way, welcome to bird forum. If you want to chat about birds or wildlife in general, come see us on ex beeb members forum, we're very friendly and have a mix of 'experts' and beginners, we'd love to see you there.

Mangetout · Mar 24, 2006

Thanks for the reply and for the welcome.

There's definitely a nest underway; there has already been a fair bit of nesting material moved in (see 'almost live' pic attached) and certainly there's little to no activity (beyond a bit of occasional preening) in the night, so yes, I agree it's roosting.

But in the daytime, the activity is quite regular - like clockwork; the bird leaves the box at daybreak, then returns mid-morning; there will be a period in which nest materials are moved in, another departure for an hour and a half, followed by more nest materials around noon, then complete absence until dusk, when the single bird returns to roost.
I imagine this is driven by energy budgets; they're only tiny birds and obviously can devote only strictly rationed parts of their efforts to nest building at this point, while the weather is so cold - the rest of the time is going to involve searching for food, I'd wager.

Mangetout · Mar 24, 2006

BTW, there is nothing wrong with the focus in the above picture; the bird is 'fluffed up' to keep warm.

Cathy H · Mar 25, 2006

Hiya,
Yes you're right it certainly looks promising. We've been keeping watch on our nesting boxes - we don't have cameras inside. Ours have been travelling back and forth too! We've been lucky enough to have successful breeding in the last three years (that's the length of time we've lived here), so here's hoping for a fourth!!

We've also seen signs of dunnocks courting doing a little dance and flicking his wings for his lady friends! The robins have been pairing up nicely too, so I'm very hopeful of having a youngster filled summer!

Good luck with yours, please do keep us informed of how things are going.

Cheers, B

:hi:

Mangetout · Mar 26, 2006

I saw the pair together today on the fat feeder balls I put in the garden; I also saw the bird inside the box go to the entrance hole and receive a large piece of fluffy nest material from outside - I can see the box out of the window and the inside on the webcam, but not both at the same time, unfortunately - but it must have been the other bird passing nesting materials in.

I stuffed a handful of hay into the top of a bush in the garden and they have been visiting it and flying back with pieces in their beaks; the box is now getting quite full of stuff.

Cathy H · Mar 26, 2006

Looking good. Hopefully you'll have eggs then chicks to watch soon. Don't forget to keep us posted!

Cheers, :hi:

ZeroGs · Mar 28, 2006

Sorry to jump on the bandwagon here but i am in a similar situation. We have had bird boxes in our garden for the last few years without any luck. I think the boxes were too small so i built one which has been up over the winter and throughout that time the blue tits have visited it and pecked away at the hole on a daily basis. I was expecting them to nest as 1 always comes back at about 6 o clock and stays there through the night. I have noticed two pairs of tits chasing off another two pairs before 1 of the blue tits makes a mad dash for the box and then stays there. Unfortunatley though, i havent seen them take any nesting material into the box and i have just had a look inside and it is completely empty. Should they be talking material in? Or is it because the weather up here in the North is still a bit too cold for them?

Also would you recommend putting material in already or will they just take it out?

Cathy H · Mar 29, 2006

Welcome to Bird forum ZeroGs,

We've had blue tits nesting in our box for the last three years and I've yet to actually catch sight of them taking in any nesting material! We always seem to go from watching them inspecting the box and wondering if it'll be used, to having a period where we see no activity at all and think it's empty, and then hooray, we see the parents flying back and forth umpteen times a day to feed their chicks!

So far this year we've watched them inspecting and now things seem to be quiet so we'll have to wait and see. We did put in a second box about a week ago but haven't seen anything there yet.

On the ex beeb members board, many of us share our news of nesting and there are those who have seen nesting material taken in whilst others are still hoping. It seems we'll all just have to wait and see.

With regard to nesting material, I wouldn't put anything in yourself, but you could put out some material for the birds to use, such as hair (human, canine or feline), wool, or anything else like that as long as it's organic.

When you see the parents flying back and forth you might want to feed them mealworms so they can feed them to the chicks. As with most things, it all takes loads and loads of patience, but stick with it.

you may be pleasantly surprised. Sorry for the length of the post but I tend to ramble on sometimes.

Good luck,

(o)< :hi:

ZeroGs · Mar 29, 2006

Thanks Cathy, i havent put anything in but i did build and put up a second nest box in my garden however, i feel its a good distance away from the one they are using at the mo. Have put some wool out in a metal cage so that they can get it and take it in if they wish. Will let you know if anything else happens

Mangetout · Apr 1, 2006

Thought I'd just post an update; I have a server installed for my camera now and it is uploading images to this page every three minutes; at the time of posting, there's a bird roosting in there as usual. The nest is looking very nearly complete now, but there's still a tiny portion of the wooden floor visible at the bottom of the nest cup (when the bird isn't sitting there).

Spring has definitely sprung here on the south coast though, so I'm expecting a lot of action really soon now; it can't be long until the buds break on the trees and that's when the insects will be out in force, providing the necessary abundance of food for the birds to raise their chicks.

Goldie2 · Apr 13, 2007

Welcome to Bird Forum
We also put up a nesting box in February this year and fingers crossed, have a pair of blue tits nesting. We saw a lot of activity over a weekend, then nothing as we both work during the week - occasionally a blue tit visited. Then a whole load of activity again, then now its gone quiet. Havent actually seen any of them at night nesting in the box, I do hope that its just the fact we havent seen them enter at night and go first thing in the morning! I do put a lot of food out for various birds in the garden, so I hope all the activity has not put them off! Should we take a quick peek to see what is going on, or leave it? If so, when should we look? We have no cam in our box.
Sincerely yours Goldie 2

Popsie · Jan 19, 2008

Blue tits nesting

We've seen blue tits visting our nesting box since the first week in January, they are coming back and for regularly but don't seem to be staying or bringing anything into the box - is this 'normal' behaviour?

Zenzero · Jan 19, 2008

Seems typical to me. Mine don't actually bring a lot of nesting material into the box until late March early April. Usually some gets dropped and you can see it under the box.
Watch at dusk to see if one roosts in the box.

petecockney · Jan 26, 2008

Hi
I have had a blue tit roosting since last september, but on new years day it left and has not retuned. I think it could have been killed by a cat. However I have a camera in my nestbox and I did not get blue tits making a nest until april last year. So I think where you are is still way to early for them to bring material into the nest. However I would not put anything in the nest if I were you in case it makes them suspicious, best of luck.

jollie · Apr 20, 2008

blue tits nesting

Hi.
I have had a pair of blue tits nesting in my box for the past 3 weeks (april 08) one bird has been back and fore all day with nesting materials, then often joined in the box by another bird.
They do not stay there over night, but I had to take a look into the box when i was certain it was empty and at night and found a small cupped nest, problem is now , since i looked ( and put box exactly back in same position) the birds haven't been seen since.
Have i ruined their chance of nesting or is it common for a pair of blue tits to abandon a nest when its been built.??

B

KnockerNorton · Apr 20, 2008

jollie said:
Hi.
I have had a pair of blue tits nesting in my box for the past 3 weeks (april 08) one bird has been back and fore all day with nesting materials, then often joined in the box by another bird.
They do not stay there over night, but I had to take a look into the box when i was certain it was empty and at night and found a small cupped nest, problem is now , since i looked ( and put box exactly back in same position) the birds haven't been seen since.
Have i ruined their chance of nesting or is it common for a pair of blue tits to abandon a nest when its been built.??

B

Don't worry, they haven't abandoned it. They're just waiting til they're ready to start laying. They may have started already, but they bury the eggs in the nest cup until they start incubating, so you wouldn't see them unless you felt for them. During laying, they will hardly visit the box at all. The female should be roosting in there, however, and lay the egg at dawn, then leave for the day; if she isn't then she might have been killed. Sparrowhawks etc still eat at this time of year, and that means breeding birds will be taken. Whatever though, it's not down to you looking in there - Blue Tits are very tolerant.

petecockney · Apr 20, 2008

jollie said:
Hi.
I have had a pair of blue tits nesting in my box for the past 3 weeks (april 08) one bird has been back and fore all day with nesting materials, then often joined in the box by another bird.
They do not stay there over night, but I had to take a look into the box when i was certain it was empty and at night and found a small cupped nest, problem is now , since i looked ( and put box exactly back in same position) the birds haven't been seen since.
Have i ruined their chance of nesting or is it common for a pair of blue tits to abandon a nest when its been built.??

B

I should not worry to much about your looking into the nest, however I would refrain from that if I were you.You will soon know if they are there because they will be continually bringing supplies to the nest.
There are of course predators that can spoil the party.
Best of luck.
Pete

jollie · Apr 21, 2008

thanks for the quick and positive replies.. good luck all

jollie · Apr 29, 2008

blue tits update....

Hi all, one week on from when they appered to have abandonned the nest and i find that a wasp has evicted them.....waso is now worm food by the way..but on the brighter side my other box has had a nesting robin in it, 3 egge in there but she not about and have not seen her for 2 days??? any reasons for that.8-P

Blue tit nesting behaviour (newbie/non-birder question) (1 Viewer)

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