Bluetit Diary    Apr 2001 (1)

The mystery of the birds′ sex deepens. Just now a bird flew into the box. After a few moments, it started doing its nesting wriggle routine, only to be interrupted by the other bird coming into the box. The first bird promptly left leaving the newcomer in possession, whereupon this bird promptly started doing nesting wriggles! Do we have two females competing for the box or do both sexes perform this routine? If we have two females competing, where are their male companions? Or are our preconceptions about the roles of the two sexes mistaken?

At last we have a warmer day.  Our bluetits have responded by becoming much more active.  For much of the day, they have been busy bringing in more moss and wriggling to make the nest cup. 

The birds' nesting activities are definitely increasing.  Today for the first time we saw them mating.  This was followed by an absolute frenzy of nest building.  Pieces of moss were taken in, taken out again and inspected and pecked at while perching in the tree, and then taken back in again.

Today Elizabeth put out some cat fur that a neighbour had brought over (she had been asked to save any combings), and in less than a minute it was being gathered. Again bits are being taken in and out constantly.  We also saw the male feeding the female, another first.  The picture shows how much fuller the box has become.  We reckon there must be two or three inches of moss and other nesting materials.  This can be judged by comparing the position of the marks on the side of the box with where they were relative to the bottom of the box when it was empty.  The picture shows the bird whirling around with the cat fur in its beak as it uses it to add the final lining to the nest.

The last two days have been much colder and nest building activities have almost stopped.