A few weeks ago while shopping for veggie starts and garden supplies, my wife and I also picked up a hanging flower basket for our small, sunny front porch.
A few days later, we realized a birds’ nest had appeared in there. A couple weeks after that, the baby birds hatched.
We know all this because of the cleverly distracting protective strategy of the parent birds. Whenever we come and go from our front door — passing a few feet from the flower basket where the nest is camouflaged — the parents suddenly dart from the nest to the nearby limbs of a big evergreen tree and start clicking furiously at us.
On the rare occasions we approach the nest directly, those parents, and what must be a group of local avian allies, appear out of nowhere in chaotic yet focused military formation, seeking to drive us away.
Birds are usually a simple joy: beautiful and musical and fascinating to watch. But what about when they move into your home?
Not everyone loves hosting uninvited bird families. We happen to like them, except when we get strafed by air-defense forces. But what about birds that make themselves at home in even more inconvenient locations like rooftops, under eaves or in chimneys?
It’s not an uncommon dilemma, if the Frequently Asked Questions page of the national Audubon organization is any indication. The second group of hot topics there (after seeing and identifying birds) is focused on urban bird problems: how to get rid of the pigeons, ducks, geese, woodpeckers, crows or other winged beings that have invited themselves to take over your rooftop, swimming pool, front yard or whole neighborhood.
First things first. Susan Saul, the conservation director at Vancouver Audubon, took a look at my photos and identified our basket squatters as dark-eyed juncos. It won’t be long — a matter of weeks or even days — before they move along and we can have our porch back, she said.
According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, juncos are small brown-gray sparrows that usually prefer nesting at ground level in tree roots, underneath shrubs, even in humble holes in the ground. But they’re also known to like some habitats that people provide.
“Around people, juncos may nest in or underneath buildings,” the Cornell Lab says. “Occasionally, juncos nest above the ground on horizontal branches … window ledges, and in hanging flower pots or light fixtures.”
Even before they can fly, junco nestlings get out of the nest and start making their way in the world — by walking around on the ground. That’s a vulnerable time for a young junco, Saul said, so parents are always ready to swoop in.
“I have observed adult juncos raising a ruckus when I walk in a certain part of my yard — lots of bill clicking and trying to distract me away — so I carefully peered into the nearby rhododendron and saw a junco nestling perched on a branch. The parents will feed it while its feathers grow in and the bird can fly (becoming a fledgling). First flight occurs at age 8 to 14 days. The nestlings grow fast on the high protein insect diet.”
The national Audubon website calls the junco’s click an “alarm chip.” You can hear exactly what it sounds like at https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/dark-eyed-junco.
And what about the parents’ friends? Those larger groups that seem to join the fray when we humans get too close? Birds can exhibit what’s called “mobbing behavior,” according to Cornell, as they team up to drive away threats. One single bird can’t take on a hawk or a human, but a busy cloud of them can prove maddeningly effective.
Amidst all that, is it possible to keep watering your flowers? That’s up to you. Do it carefully, using a long-nosed watering can to direct the water away from the nest and into the soil. Or, just let the flowers die while the birds live on.
Who’s native?
Other opportunistic birds that may try to take advantage of a homemaker’s unintended hospitality are finches, mourning doves, American robins and barn swallows (all of which are native) as well as non-native house sparrows and European starlings.
Non-native house sparrows and European starlings may move into the most unlikely little places, like rain gutters, air vents or other building openings. Sparrows can squeeze into holes barely larger than 1 inch in diameter, Audubon says.
The native/non-native distinction is important because of federal law. Non-native bird species, like European starlings and house sparrows, are fair game for removal from your home. But native bird nests, eggs and babies are all protected by law and must not be moved or destroyed, according to Audubon.
“The best way to stop these birds from nesting on your house is to block any and all possible nest holes with boards, bird netting, or any physical barrier that might be cosmetically and structurally appropriate,” Audubon’s website states. “Birds can nest in gutter downspouts if there is a horizontal section of pipe near the entrance at the top, so avoid this gutter design.”
But what about bird droppings and mess? Aren’t they dangerous to human health? Not usually, it turns out, but it’s still worth handling with care.
“Bird poop (or guano) is usually more of a nuisance than an actual health risk, though there can be a risk of disease transmission, especially for those with weakened immune systems,” according to Audubon. “Clean up with soap and hot water whenever you have contact with bird droppings. … To clean up small messes caused by birds, use water from a hose.”
For larger messes, wear protective clothing (including a mask and gloves) and isolate or wet down the work area to prevent particles from getting into the air and into your lungs.
Many, but not all, birds use their nest just once for one set of eggs and move along before more come. Once the young have fledged (that is, left the nest) you’re fine to remove the nest and clean the site. So you may need to exercise patience for a few weeks at most.
But some birds may see a clean nesting site or box as an invitation to return and start again.
“Never remove an active nest that has eggs or young, as they are protected by federal law,” Audubon’s website states. “The exception is nests of House Sparrows, European Starlings, and Rock Pigeons, which are not native to North America.”
Pro-nest?
What if you actually like your new bird tenants, and want to attract even more? Audubon offers plenty of nest- and box-building advice.
Start with a yard that offers the materials and the nooks and crannies that birds need. They won’t find nest materials in a tidy, debris-free yard, but they’ll have lots to work with in a yard that offers leaves and grass (that haven’t been treated with any chemicals), feathers, plant fluff, moss, bark strips and pine needles.
Never provide yarn, string, plastic strips, tinsel, cellophane, aluminum foil, dryer lint or human hair. String and hair are both super-strong and super-thin, making them choking and trapping hazards for birds.
Visit the Vancouver Audubon page on nest boxes to learn about setting up homes that will attract many different sort of birds.
