February 26, 2011

The stuffin' bird

It's the cactus wren, really. He is a raucous guy, or girl, with a chewing-a-rubberband-cry. Better not leave your car windows down or the garage open because he will be there investigating. And he apparently likes cozy roosts in the winter. Anything with an opening has been stuffed with all kinds of treasures: dog hair, chicken and bird feathers, dry grass, leaves, you name it.


This is currently his favorite night spot. It used to be a beautiful oriole nest that is now 2 years old. When the orioles used it, it was an artfully woven affair that was hung by baling twine from an unused electrical outlet on the porch. Now it's a mess, though apparently just to a cactus wren's liking.

I am going to take it down before the orioles arrive here in the beginning of April because it is just hanging from a thread; a bird can escape should it fall, but eggs would come to a sad end. I will remove it after the storm-in-waiting tomorrow. It's 60 degrees now, but they are forecasting snow tomorrow. Winter be done!

1 comment:

webb said...

It would be easy to mistake that nest for a dust bunny from under my bed! But then I like to nestle down there - in the bed, not in the dust bunny.

Don't you love the ways that critters use and reuse the least little things? Warmer here today and getting better pretty steadily now. But we usually get at least one bad storm in March, so there's still plenty of waiting to do.