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Why does a blue tit appear to dive head first into the nest ?

ElsieD
03/04/2023 11:27

We have noticed that now having established herself in the nest box, the blue tit will occasionally dive head first into the moss layering the nest and move her head around briefly as if looking for something. It's a very quick action and she only does it every now and again.

Is she checking the condition of the bottom of the box; or, may be, assessing the depth of cover she has in the nest?

It's amusing to watch as we have never seen this funny behaviour before, but we'd love to know why they do this. 

Any expert out there who is familiar with this behaviour from nesting birds?

Thanks!

  • 0 04/04/2023 12:42
    dear,
    interesting observation! if you can share a video.
    what comes to mind 1. checking ‘depth’ of the nest cup statu nascendi a/o keep it fluffy a/o weaving herbs in 2. check for/eliminate parasites/small intruders 3. your suggestion ‘bottom quality check’
    I think 3 is less likely as they do this before building the nest.
    ad 1: the size of nest cup is important with regard to to micro climate of the nest. it seems they build up to a certain distance from the entry hole. high nest cups seem to signal fitness of the female, for males if important to ‘estimate’ how much they invest in parental care. the fluffyness may impact on the nest’ microclimate. weaving in more aromatic plants eg. Gallium is considered to have antimicobial effects.
    It would be good to have a video and to see in what phade of nest building the behaviour is shown. hope this helps in your query. very best regards, Pieter
  • 0 04/04/2023 12:44
    I forgot ad 2. , are the chasing something/ eating a catch?
    very best regards, Pieter
  • 0 04/04/2023 21:00 in reply to Pieter
    Hi Pieter
    We are watching the Surrey Wildlife Trust's Nower Wood nest box camera, which you can get to via this link: https://youtu.be/qkqfcGOe01g

    Or, on their website at: www.surreywildlifetrust.org/.../webcams

    The video does not show specific time points so I can't refer you to a specific event when the blue tit does this strange 'searching'. But i am sure if you watch for a short while you'll see her do it. You can go back through the video on the same day and seewhen she is in the box. This is how we got to see her - by looking back each time we saw she had arrived back in the nest-box.

    If you go back 5hrs qnd 4 mins as at 20:55 tonight (Tues 4 Apr) you'll see her doing it! You will need to adjust the calcs with the minutes based on when you watch it, I'm afraid!
  • 0 05/04/2023 08:32
    hi Elsie, I saw a sequence I think.
    she is still in nest building phase. she dives to make the cup.
    the box is quite big. I’d think the final cup will be asymetric,
    the like to ha a platform.
    it could well be she ‘measures’ the depth of the layering.
    I would suggest to see pinpoint these ‘dives’ and see whether they concentrate in time on place of the final cup.
    anyway so much interesting phenomena.