Rather than start a new one I'm going to inject a bit of life into this thread and see what happens.
We have a small spring-fed pond on the property in full view of a two story deck on the south side of the house, and that pond attracts all manner of wildlife to the property, both winged and footed. We have always had wildlife burrowing under the bottom level deck (mostly rabbits, ground hogs - and wrens) and birds nesting around and in the upper level (robins and blue jays in the lilacs around the upper deck, and Eastern Phoebes nesting underneath in the structure).
The bird nesting is always an adventure (for the birds and us) as we never know how things will pan out. The robins and jays nest relatively out in the open in the lilacs and their hatchlings have been pillaged by hawks - sometimes within days of fledging. The Phoebes have had their nest plundered multiple times, mostly by Jays stealing eggs, but they also are repeatedly subject to house finches depositing parasite eggs, sometimes returning to damage the Phoebe eggs while leaving their parasite untouched.
This year we have a Phoebe nest with particularly ambitious parents, as they have laid five eggs, plus they have one finch egg to deal with. I have a crappy ESP32+CAM module trained on the nest to keep an eye on things and "catch the drama".
Mommy back on the nest.
We've often noticed the Phoebes leave the parasites alone until they hatch, at which time they are summarily dispatched (I've seen it, it's brutal
) I've also witnessed a House Finch punching out Phoebe eggs (totally sucks) but have learned there's no point in trying to defend them as I can't be there 24/7 while there's more than enough wildlife around 24/7.
So, we'll see how this goes. Usually if the nest gets pillaged early, they'll build another nest in another spot under the deck and try again. But I've seen the 2nd try get wiped out, too, so you never know...
Cheers!
We have a small spring-fed pond on the property in full view of a two story deck on the south side of the house, and that pond attracts all manner of wildlife to the property, both winged and footed. We have always had wildlife burrowing under the bottom level deck (mostly rabbits, ground hogs - and wrens) and birds nesting around and in the upper level (robins and blue jays in the lilacs around the upper deck, and Eastern Phoebes nesting underneath in the structure).
The bird nesting is always an adventure (for the birds and us) as we never know how things will pan out. The robins and jays nest relatively out in the open in the lilacs and their hatchlings have been pillaged by hawks - sometimes within days of fledging. The Phoebes have had their nest plundered multiple times, mostly by Jays stealing eggs, but they also are repeatedly subject to house finches depositing parasite eggs, sometimes returning to damage the Phoebe eggs while leaving their parasite untouched.
This year we have a Phoebe nest with particularly ambitious parents, as they have laid five eggs, plus they have one finch egg to deal with. I have a crappy ESP32+CAM module trained on the nest to keep an eye on things and "catch the drama".
Mommy back on the nest.
We've often noticed the Phoebes leave the parasites alone until they hatch, at which time they are summarily dispatched (I've seen it, it's brutal
) I've also witnessed a House Finch punching out Phoebe eggs (totally sucks) but have learned there's no point in trying to defend them as I can't be there 24/7 while there's more than enough wildlife around 24/7.So, we'll see how this goes. Usually if the nest gets pillaged early, they'll build another nest in another spot under the deck and try again. But I've seen the 2nd try get wiped out, too, so you never know...
Cheers!
