SMALL BIRDS NESTING IN SUBURBS

     Several kinds of small, adaptable birds nest in suburban areas in southeastern Pennsylvania, and elsewhere in eastern North America.  Their raising young in those human-made habitats increases their numbers, and gives us suburbanites more enjoyment on our lawns.  All but one of those species ingest invertebrates in summer, and feed them to their chicks.  

     Four built habitats in the suburbs, including bird nesting boxes, buildings and planted shrubbery and trees, provide nurseries for these kinds of birds.  Downy woodpeckers chip nesting cavities in dead limbs of standing trees to rear offspring.  Scattered pairs of attractive Carolina chickadees, tufted titmice, white-breasted nuthatches and house wrens hatch youngsters in abandoned woodpecker holes in the older suburbs that have larger deciduous trees that make those habitats look a bit woodsy.  And some pairs of all these bird species, except downies, lay eggs in nesting boxes when woodpecker holes are scarce.  Bird houses to these small birds resemble woodpecker cavities. 

     Pairs of pretty tree swallows and lovely eastern bluebirds hatch young in bird boxes in newer suburbs, especially those that border farmland.  These small birds compete for nesting sites in more open habitats with scattered trees, like younger suburbs with bird boxes erected on larger lawns. 

     Once I saw a pair of tree swallows raising chicks in an open, roadside newspaper box that had no door and mounted on a post.  The people were kind enough to allow the swallows to raise their progeny in that wooden box.

     Certain types of small birds raise young on buildings.  Fast-flying chimney swifts build twig cradles down the inside of chimneys, using their saliva as a glue to fasten those twigs together, and to the chimneys.  Swifts traditionally nest down the inside of hollow, broken-off trees, which the chimneys look like.  

     House sparrows and house finches compete for crevices, shutters and awnings on buildings as good places to rear their progeny.  In short, these adaptable birds take advantage of most any sheltering place to raise their broods.  

     Handsome, little Carolina wrens rear young in all kinds of sheltering niches, including in garages, under decks and porches, inside grills, under awnings and other places.  They also raise offspring in traditionally wood piles, brush piles and stone walls.     

     The attractive song sparrows hatch babies in grass nurseries in shrubbery on lawns, as they do in farmland hedgerows.  This species is one of the first to colonize younger suburbs with their smaller trees and bushes.  Males sing delightful songs from early spring into summer.

     The pretty American goldfinches and chipping sparrows raise chicks in open cradles in young arborvitae trees on lawns.  Female goldfinches build lovely, little nurseries of fine grass, thistle down and spider webs, while female chippers create grass nests, lined with hair, where they can find the hair.  Goldfinches also nest in sapling trees on lawns and chippers also hatch offspring in bushes.  However,  goldfinches don't nest until July when thistle plants produce both seeds to eat and down for cradles.

     All these small, nesting birds liven and beautify lawns.  And they increase their populations because they adapted to suburbs to raise future generations, rather than being pushed away by those suburbs.         

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