I just can’t figure how some birds ever get the nest-building job done. It’s mind-boggling how clueless some of them are. And it’s no wonder—they’re all bird brains trying to figure out something that they obviously don’t have much more than bare instinct to go on.
Robins are some of the worst nest builders around. About 4 years ago, they tried to build a nest in between our deck rail and the house. It was the most hilarious Hoorah’s nest we ever saw!
This year they’re trying once again to build a nest underneath our deck. Don’t they get it? That’s what trees are for.
We’ve got a bird’s eye view of the egg-laying prowess of a house finch and a cardinal, in the front yard and the back yard respectively. We don’t understand how the cardinal lost one of her eggs. She just laid a replacement.
Funny thing about cardinals and house finches. We see the male house finch feeding his mate all the time. The papa cardinal is a rare visitor to the nest; I sometimes wonder if mama has trouble with laying enough eggs because she’s underfed.
And the eggs of the house finches are not what we expected. They’re creamy white, not pale blue. Guide books are not always right, I guess.
We’ll keep checking on the robin’s nest building progress. I’m skeptical, but I’ve been wrong about a lot of things.
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