2025 Bird Report

Birds in the Greenhouse

Our resident ornithologist tells the story of our avian companions during our most recent growing season.

Birds in the Greenhouse
Today is the last day of summer. It is sunny and breezy outside, with only a hint of Fall colors. But the
greenhouses are very quiet except for some flapping plastic and whirring inflation fans. The birds have
all left; a sure sign of the change of the seasons. All summer and most of the spring, there was constant
bird activity.

It was a good summer for the greenhouse Barn Swallows and they are the ones we miss the most. They
show up in mid-April and from then until early September there was constant activity. There are eleven
used nests in the storage area. Some birds nested twice, possibly using a different nest. There seemed
to be an average of four nestlings per nest. That is a lot of birds to be coming and going. And a lot of
mouths to eat mosquitos. We keep the doors open for them and the roofs too, when it is dry. When the
young are newly fledged, the cats are banished to the break room (whether they like it or not).
As with many fledglings flying comes easy but landing is the tricky part. If you have ever watched baby
Crows learning to fly, you would wonder how any survive. They try to grab a branch, then tumble down
the tree. And this goes on over and over. Barn Swallows are much smaller so it is not so dramatic. But I
see them trying to land on a cart or pallet of soil and them tumble down to the floor. (thus, the banished
cats) Eventually they figure it out.

There were other birds to spark our interest too. The Kingbirds were back again for the third year in a
row. They claimed a basket and thus a whole greenhouse. They were quick to let you know that you
weren’t really welcome there. One hardly notices them coming and going but they will raise a ruckus if
you so much as get near that basket. A Robin also nested in a basket in the same house. Who knows, if it
was by accident or on purpose. But evidently, the two birds tolerated each other.

Another Robin tried to nest in a previously used nest. That nest has not been very productive because by
mid-summer, it is just too hot in there. There was one baby bird in it this year, but I don’t know if it
survived. Other birds are shyer and keep their nest out of sight. But we hear them and know that they
are around.

A house finch was singing up in the corners of one roof. There had to be a nest somewhere but I
couldn’t see it. Two wrens were singing outside the greenhouse, which usually means two nests, one
possibly in a pile of pallets.

There are other birds: the Phoebe comes in to check things out. The Bald Eagle hunts over the field. The
Brown Thrasher sings by the driveway. And of course there are song sparrows about. They used to be
the only birds nesting in the greenhouses. Now, we are so used to them we hardly notice. But they are
there.

Thus ends the bird report. Remember to make room for the birds. They are facing a loss in habitat and
need all the help we can give them.
Norma Rudesill

Resident Ornithologist