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Re: Birds rejecting nesting material



>In reply to Donna Bailey's comments about the Phoebe carrying nesting
>material AWAY from it's nest or her back porch, on Sat. (3/25) we noticed a
>Bluebird taking nesting material from it's nest also.  This was at the
>Little Creek impoundment off Highway 54 with Robin Moran and friends.
>
>Judy.

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JUDY, et al. . . .

I would suggest caution on thinking that every instance of nest 
material removal is the work of the builder. This certainly occurs, 
but it is also not uncommon among birds for one pair to steal nesting 
material from another and incorporate it into a new nest. There's 
probably even  technical term for this behavior, but I don't know 
it--maybe  "nidiparasitism."

I observed both these phenomena among Blue Jays (Cyanocitta cristata) 
during my graduate studies in Minnesota. Incidentally, jays there 
always incorporated a piece of white material--often human trash such 
as six-pack holders, ribbons, etc. I never saw a pair steal this nest 
litter from themselves or another pair, but there certainly seemed to 
be choice sticks in a nest that were the apparent envy of the jay 
neighborhood.


Happy Birding!

BILL


**********

BILL HILTON JR., "The Piedmont Naturalist"
Hilton Pond Center for Piedmont Natural History
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"Never trust a person too lazy to get up for sunrise or too busy to 
watch the sunset."

						BHjr.

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