Backyard Nest 2021
We have had a birdhouse in the backyard for years. 2019 and 2020 we have had occupants. This year we added a "birdhouse camera" to see what was going on inside.
This year our guest is an Oak Titmouse (as it was last year). Her name is Ruth.
According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak_titmouse)
The oak titmouse builds its nest in a woodpecker hole, a natural cavity, or a nest box, using grass, moss, mud, hair, feathers, and fur. It breeds from March into July, with peak activity in April and May, laying 3–9 eggs, usually 6–8. The female is the primary incubator, with incubation taking 14–16 days. Young are altricial and are tended by both parents in nest for 16–21 days. Parents continue to tend to young for another three to four weeks after they leave the nest.
The eggs were first spotted on April 3, 2021. Six little guys.
Lots of sitting. Wikipedia says they take between 14 and 16 days to hatch…
On cue, 14 days later the first ugly “things” hatched.
Lots of time just sitting on all the little ones…
More on the 15th day.
And all six eggs hatched on the 16th day – April 19
At first the bald ugly babies just sort of existed (with open mouths at the proper time) April 22, 2021. It wasn’t completely clear that there were six of them…
But after some time we got a frame of all six open mouths begging. (Five days after hatching.)
Outside the nest Ruth and Deadbeat kept catching bugs to bring them to the hungry mouths. LOTS of trips.
Eyes were finally open by April 29. (Day 12 after hatching.)
We observed poop removal behavior and decided it was worth capturing the video…
It’s now clear, these are not rats. Although it looked that way for a while. Wings are filling in. The nest is being outgrown… May 3 (16 days after hatching – maybe ready to leave the nest?)
That night – May 3 – MOM DIDN’T COME BACK FOR THE NIGHT! But the next morning … there she was to do clean up and feeding. Guess the feathers are enough to keep them warm!
Cinco de Mayo … Still six, looking like little birds. Mom doesn’t sleep with them anymore.
This is day 18 after hatching. Wikipedia says it’s between 16-21 days until they leave the nest… NEST WATCH 2021!
Very active parents going in/out of the nest. This is ONE bird taking off.
(This time picture settings counts: 1/4000 sec, 20 fps with “animal eye” focus following.)
It’s really getting crowded in there. Most of the time they look like they are having a bad hair day… day 19.
Day 22 – May 10 The first jump to the entrance (video)
Once outside, not sure if it’s time to leap!!
And on May 11 at 9am there were four remaining in the nest. At 9:01am one leaps to the door.
10am and the last one makes the leap to “freedom” or the next adventure.
10:02am 38 days after the first egg is laid we are empty nesters again… 25 days after the first egg hatched.
PS Three days later a large RAT decided to visit the nest…
What about the camera? We have an amazon purchased camera connected to our security system (so it records movement). It’s in Black and White most of the time since it’s dark in the box and we are looking at IR light. Otherwise it would be in color.
Birdhouse Spy Cam – Hawk Eye HD Camera
Miniature High Definition Video Cam with 700 tvl (Television Lines) measures 1.75 x 1.75 x 1″”
Built in microphone
Brilliant Night Vision from 10 infrared LEDs
Comes 2, 50′, detachable, AV/power cables
Simple plug ‘n play connection to TV or AV compatible computer