• Welcome to BirdForum, the internet's largest birding community with thousands of members from all over the world. The forums are dedicated to wild birds, birding, binoculars and equipment and all that goes with it.

    Please register for an account to take part in the discussions in the forum, post your pictures in the gallery and more.
ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

I was wondering if the house finches that started building a nest on my porch will not be scared away by my family and I going in and out of the door. (2 Viewers)

LydiajMoody

Member
United States
Hi again! As you probably have seen in my last post, I was talking about the house finches that started to build a nest on my porch...(but haven't even gotten close to finishing it) I was wondering if they will still nest on top of the porch light on my porch even though my family and I have to go in and out of the porch door all of the time. My family has to go through the door no matter what. So, we can't fix that. We haven't gone by the light though... so maybe that will be ok. The light is like 8 feet away from the door. Please help! I really want the house finches to have their nestlings on our porch, I just don't want to scare them away with our coming and going out of the doorway.
 
Hi again Lydia!

As there is no other door to get into your home I would suggest that you all move very slowly and quietly and not let the door slam shut. Don't know if it will work but I'm hoping so seeing that they are still building the nest with you going in and out of the door. Always stay as far away from the nest as possible. Good luck and please keep us updated on how it goes.
 
House finches have that name for a reason. They are very tolerant of people near their nests. They will be reluctant to come and go from the nest if you're standing close, but people going in and out a few times a day is not going to make them abandon the nest.
Do try to minimize your time near the nest - both so you don't scare the parents off when they're incubating, or delay the parents as they go about their very busy job of feeding their hatchlings, and so you don't draw attention to the nest from predators.
 
As long as you dont stay in front of the nest for long periods of time and just pass by there, it should be ok. Birds generally dont leave a nest too easily, and usually only leave if they think someone is trying to catch them while going there. Still, it's best to try to leave them alone as much as possible.
 
As long as you dont stay in front of the nest for long periods of time and just pass by there, it should be ok. Birds generally dont leave a nest too easily, and usually only leave if they think someone is trying to catch them while going there. Still, it's best to try to leave them alone as much as possible.
Thank you!!! And I don't go by the actual nest a lot. I occasionally peak inside to see if there are any eggs. There aren't any yet, but I think the female will lay one soon because the nest looks finished.
 
House finches have that name for a reason. They are very tolerant of people near their nests. They will be reluctant to come and go from the nest if you're standing close, but people going in and out a few times a day is not going to make them abandon the nest.
Do try to minimize your time near the nest - both so you don't scare the parents off when they're incubating, or delay the parents as they go about their very busy job of feeding their hatchlings, and so you don't draw attention to the nest from predators.
Thank you very much for this information! The nest looks completely done now, and I always see the finches come to it in the morning. However, I am worried that when the female house finch starts incubating, we will accidently scare her away because of going out of the door. (Especially on nice days when we are outside a lot.)
 
Warning! This thread is more than 3 years ago old.
It's likely that no further discussion is required, in which case we recommend starting a new thread. If however you feel your response is required you can still do so.

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top