Nesting Blue tits

[Macfish]

Hi All,

I'm new to the forum, so firstly I would like to say hello to everyone.

I have a bird box with a camera (cracking christmas present), the bird box came with some cedar shavings within the bottom, last week I checked on the box after a few weeks and noticed that all the shavings had gone, since investigating last Saturday I noticed a Blue tit popping in just the odd time (6 times ish) with twigs, then proceeding to do a funny flappy dance on the floor of the box. Since last Saturday there has been no further activity other than the twigs have moved about a bit.

Does this mean that the nest has been abandoned, or do they take there time building (confused).

Any help would be great.

Gary

[RKB]

The bird might have been killed - Sparrowhawks still need to eat in spring, and they can take up to a quarter of breeding tits.

But they might have just decided to wait for a bit, which depends on where you are. In southern England some are already laying eggs, whereas in northern England many are just starting to build. In Scotland they'll be even later.

Even if your bird has died, there are plenty of Blue Tits around to make up the numbers, so you still stand a good chance of success. If nothing happens by May, it's not looking good.

[Elizabeth B]

This is our 11th year of watching blue and great tits in camera boxes - but on the one occasion when we followed the RSPB's suggestion and added a handful of wood shavings in the box, the female spent ages removing it all before she started building her nest.

I think your "funny flapping dance" is what we call a nesting wriggle and the term seems to have been adopted by quite a few people. The female spreads out her wings and flutters across the floor of the box, sometimes before she's brought in any nesting material. They do this sort of thing when they are shaping the nest cup, and we think it is some sort of instinctive manoeuvre.

Birds can take a long time in building a nest, often taking stuff out and bringing it back in again - but once they really get going it can be finished quite quickly. On one occasion a great tit finished her nest withingthree days of first going into the box.

If you look at the Overview page of our website, you'll see the dates of significant events in our birds' lives - and see how much things can vary.

I hope your box will be successful - it's getting a bit late now, but certainly not too late, and it varies depending where you live - southern birds tend be a bit earlier than further north.

[Macfish]

Thanks for the replies everyone, we live in Northern England so hopefully they are just late (fingers crossed), there has been various activity around the garden today ie; one Blue tit has taken quite a shine to my car wing mirror, but still no nesting activity.

Is it worth moving the box or should I just sit tight?


Gary

[Elizabeth B]

Originally Posted by Macfish

Is it worth moving the box or should I just sit tight?
Gary

I don't think you'd gain anything by moving the box - and you could well scare the birds away.

[Macfish]

Thanks Elizabeth, I'll hang in there and just hope, There has been a Blue Tit in this morning but with no nesting material, just having a look around.

Gary

[Ladywell]

Our blue tits are only just investigating the nest boxes. Normally fledge to coincide with a glut of caterpillars - so it is very early yet - you just need to have patience. I did see a great tit with a beak full of pony hair yesterday (looked like it had a moustache) - I never have a camera with me as I seem to have an ability to drop them out of my pocket in ponies' water bucket!!

[Illy]

Hi,

I am also new at this- my first nest box was put up a couple of weeks ago, and imagine my surprise on Saturday morning that two blue tits was bringing moss and other bits of material into the box! What a shame I dont have a camera in there- it must be fantastic to see them at work!

Unfortunately our garden is fairly small and we had a bbq on Sunday afternoon, and for the rest of the day we didnt see them at all. I am so worried that I will scare them away but I really want to use our garden too- so my question really is- should we steer clear of the box area while they are nesting or will they just go about their nesting regardless of other movement in the garden?

I did see one of them again this morning, popping in and out of the box and hopping about on top, but i havent seen them bring anything into the box again. I read that you should put some nesting material down- but not sure what and where.

any ideas will be most welcome!

[Elizabeth B]

The birds chose your garden, so unless there have been other changes to its use (apart from the bbq) I would think they'll be OK. There's not really any need to put out nesting material for them - but if you or your friends have a dog or cat, the birds would appreciate any fur that's available after the animals have been groomed.

[Red Robin]

I put up a Gardman (well designed and built) nestbox for Blue Tits in January. Almost immediately I spotted firstly a Blue Tit come to investigate but not go inside and then a Coal Tit the next day. It is at the recommended height and position etc but I haven't spotted any further activity yet. I can see it with binoculars from my kitchen/dining room.

A continually well stocked bird 'cafe' is about 40ft away and many bird species including all the Tit family visit my garden daily. I'm based in coastal West Dorset.