NESTING IN ARBORVITAE

     This April, I saw a chipping sparrow in a planted row of arborvitae trees in a neighbor's yard in New Holland, Pennsylvania.  Probably that chipper, and its mate, will nest in one of those evergreen trees, as I have seen chippies regularly do in the past.  

     Other kinds of small birds, including house finches, American goldfinches, northern cardinals, mourning doves, northern mockingbirds, American robins and small groups of purple grackles also raise young in sheltering arborvitae because of the conifers' dense layering of small, flat needles that protect those birds from weather and predators, including sharp-shinned hawks, crows and house cats.  

     All those attractive, interesting bird species build open cradles of twigs and dried grass and place those nurseries on forks of limbs.  And those birds add more life to suburban lawns during spring and summer. 

     Arborvitae, or northern white cedars, are coniferous trees native to northern North America.  They grow tall, and develop densely-packed boughs of needles.  They are commonly planted in rows and patches that block cold, winter wind, promote privacy and have appealing shapes.  

     Arborvitae are one of the first kinds of trees planted in new suburban areas.  That  makes them valuable for esthetic beauty to us, and sheltering places for a small variety of birds, and other creatures, that live in new suburbs, including some of the birds listed above.  

     Chipping sparrows are pretty, little birds; striped brown above, light-gray underneath, with a chestnut stripe on their crowns, a dark line through each eye, and a white stripe above each eye.  Males sing long, musical trills to establish nesting territory and win a mate.  And chippers add horsehair to their cradles, if they can get it.

     The handsome male house finches are gray and darkly-streaked with pink on their heads, chests and backs.  Their mates are similar, but without the pink.  Each male sings lovely songs to proclaim territory and attract a mate. 

     Cardinals sometimes nest in arborvitae.  The striking males sing from the tops of trees and bushes.

     Mourning doves have two cradles of grass in operation at the same time in arborvitae because they stagger clutches of two young per nursery from early March through September.  When one brood of young is half-grown in a nest, each pair of doves starts another clutch of two in another cradle.  It is a joy to hear the lovely cooing of doves all through their breeding season.   

     Some pairs of northern mockingbirds rear offspring in arborvitae.  Mockers are great mimics of sounds they hear, including bird songs.  But they also have lovely songs of their own.  Mockers are one of the first bird species to move into a new suburban area, and are adapted to hatching youngsters in smaller trees and shrubbery.

     There could be other kinds of small birds nesting in arborvitae.  But all species of birds in suburbs add life, joy and cheer to many a lawn with arborvitae, and other trees and shrubbery planted and growing in them.         


   

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