Eggs and Nests - Common Garden Birds

 Right, hi. As I said ages ago... I'M  ON A ROLL!! Like I said also, I will do more on eggs and nests, so now I've got good old Getting Started With Bird-Feeding, "Bird Facts!", Getting Familiar With... and Eggs and Nests!! WOOP WOOP! With the breeding season under way, it seems necessary to do a post on egg and nest identification. I will try to catch up on the lagging blog posts and things will be back to normal. I can't believe the AWWC one is not up yet! My fault. We will start with some common garden passerines. We will go with the Robin (European), Blackbird (Turdus merula in case of confusion), Chaffinch, Blue Titmouse and Great Titmouse, some of the birds that anyone with a bird-feeder  and nesting-boxes/suitable woody plant can attract.

Robin nest by Josef Hlasek

Erithacus rubecula  - European Robin nest/eggs

The nest of the European Robin is a shallow, rather messy cup of grass, straw, hay, twigs, mud etc, built by the female. Robins will nest almost anywhere; old welly boots, watering-cans, jugs, coils of rope are just a few odd places recorded. A quick way to get Robins nesting in your garden is to use an open-fronted nesting-box. The eggs are off-white speckled with brown, heavier towards the base off the egg. There are usually 4-6 eggs and 3 successfully-fledged broods a year are not uncommon.

Blackbird nest by Josef Hlasek

Turdus merula - Blackbird nest/eggs

The Blackbird's nest is a more neat cup han the Robin's. Blackbirds generally have 2-3 broods a year although in a particularly good year, 4 may be attempted. The nest is made of similar materials to the Robin's but less scruffy. I is low down in suitable vegetation cover and built by the female. The eggs are a turquoise colour, speckled with brown. There are 3-5 eggs in each clutch.

Blue Titmouse nest on ARKive, I didn't have time
to find the photographer's name.

Parus caeruleus - Blue Titmouse nest/eggs
The Blue Titmouse originally nested in woodland tree holes and still does but increasing numbers are opting for titmouse-boxes in gardens. I woodlands, there can be up to 20 eggs in one clutch but in gardens here is usually no more than 10. The nest is a cosy, warm nest consisting of down, fur, wool, moss etc. The eggs are white, speckled brown.

Chaffinch nest. I couldn't find the photographer's
name but its a good pic!

Fringilla coelebs - Chaffinch nest/eggs
The Chaffinch is the commonest wild British bird. The nest is a cup made of plant material with down, spider's webs, moss, lichen, bark and wool in the mix. The Chaffinch can have 2 broods a year; 2-6 eggs in a clutch. The eggs are pale blue with a small amount of brown spotting at the base of the egg. The female builds the nest.   

Great Titmouse nest
in a titmouse-box. I couldn't find the
photographer's name. 

Parus major - Great Titmouse                                nest/eggs
The nest and eggs of the Great Titmouse are superficially similar                    to the Blue Titmouse but are slightly larger. They nest in tree holes, rock cavities and titmouse-boxes. The female builds the nest. It is made of moss, wool, fur, down, hay, bark, lichen, dead leaves, spider's webs etc. The clutch size can be as many as 18 eggs but 5-12 is more common. The clutch of 12 in the photo was laid in a titmouse-box. Larger clutches, as with all titmice, occur in more natural woodland habitats where there is more suitable food in abundance (caterpillars, grubs, worms etc.). 


"Bird Facts!" today is linked in with the Great Titmouse because I found out some tit-tastic facts!

Parus major newtoni by Richard Ford

The 11 subspecies of Cinereous Titmouse (Parus cinereus)  were once lumped in with the Great Titmouse but genetic studies have shown that this group is a separate species. The Japanese Titmouse or Oriental Titmouse (Parus minor) was also once thought to be just a subspecies of Great Titmouse but is now known to be separate. There are 14 subspecies of true Great Titmouse, out British one being P.m. newtoni. The Turkestan Titmouse I like to consider a separate species, Parus bokorensis like it used to be, but the experts now  say it is a Great Tit subspecies. 

Turkestan Titmouse by Aurelian Audevard

Japanese Titmouse by Tetsuya Umezawa

P.S. I HAVE GOT MY SCOPE BINOCULARS ETC!!!! IT IS LEGEND. I will do my next post on it. Bye!