ADJECTIVE
Word forms: broodier, broodiest
1. : The urge to nest... being in a state of readiness to brood eggs that is characterized by cessation of laying and by marked changes in behavior and physiology. a broody hen.
2. : given or conducive to introspection
Brooding – To sit on and keep young birds warm that cannot maintain their own body temperatures.
While waiting for my English muffin to transform into a pair of toasty, crunchy rounds upon which I will melt butter and spread apricot jam, I sit at the ancient, drop-leaf, kitchen table my beloved grandmother used to sit at when I was a toddler and watch goings-on out in the garden. A handful of juncos are scurrying about on the rain-damp deck boards just beyond the window, looking for any small, seedy addition to their breakfasts while our resident, female, Anna’s hummingbird flits confidently in to take another hit of the last of that sugary concoction we mixed up and put outside during our last, sub-freezing cold spell a few weeks back.
While she ‘nectars’ through a hole in one of those red plastic flowers radiating outward from the bottom of the inverted glass bottle, a flash of blue twenty feet beyond tears my eyes away from her aerial ballet to refocus on the loud, brash, gum-chewing arrogances of a Steller’s Jay who is currently screaming while snipping branchlets of perfect, white, persicaria flowers, presumably to line her new, somewhere-nearby nest.
Shit-damn, Springtime! We are in the thick of you now.
Just yesterday, it was our local pair of Baldies, perched on and near the immense nest they’ve been adding to for years, acting all domestic and broody before taking to the sky together to vocalize and soar in overlapping circles above the bay.
On a much, much smaller note, I just happened to witness a wee little bundle of feathers and intentions (barely bigger than a hummingbird), as he undulated his way across an open space from the shelter of a cluster of willows and shore pines to a large Deodar cedar, while carrying a mouthful of fluff. Wait, WHAT!!!
“Dude are you and the missus..?”
YES! An energetic little bushtit and his partner are starting to build another one of those crazy, cool, little, camouflaged bag nests which Bushtits so elegantly engineer once the nesting bug hits them. And for the first time ever, for me, I’ll get to watch it come together on a daily basis rather than ‘discover’ it after it’s been completed.
It’s obviously quite early in the build, with only the nest’s first, fuzzy foundations starting to take shape, but there is no question of what’s going on. A family (perhaps this same pair), of Bushtits successfully raised two broods within a bag nest hanging within a couple of feet of this very spot, and suspended from this very same cedar branch last year. Here’s a photo of it in early April, last year…
I’ve been curious about the reasons for such an elaborate nest, all that roomy, hollow, stretchy-walled real estate. Seems like an awful lot of work. Well, come to find out, the whole extended bushtit family climbs into the nest at night during brooding season and sleeps there, together. Ahhwwww.
Last year I watched a family group raise two consecutive broods from a nest in almost the same place, and in an area with constant occupancy by very observant crows. The crows never caught on. And as soon as the first babies were ready to leave the nest and begin flying and foraging, the extended family took over their care so that the parents could begin a second brood within days in the same nest. It was an absolute wonder to watch all this familial cooperation unfold, and right beneath the predatory crows extra snoopy noses.
As you can see, only the first fuzzy foundations exist at this stage, but I can report that these camouflaged goings on have nearly doubled in size since yesterday. And though they grow fast, I’m told that a complex nest like this may take as long as a month to weave and build. I guess we’ll see, won’t we?
Finally, a chatty little Bewick’s Wren began peering into that same, brilliant, utterly defensible, enclosed space on the side of the flagpole where a pair of Bewick’s wrens successfully nested last spring. And she was adding new materials to it. Could it be the same momma wren as before? Maybe.
Anyway, it looks like there may be a new family of wrens incubating in a familiar, old space, soon, as well.
So much broodiness!
Here is a photo (below) of the nest building operation in this very same space from last spring. It was the perfect, little, wrenlike spot. I love that they’re back to make use of it again and look forward to watching their tireless, food-laden comings and goings once the eggs hatch.
If you’re up for it, I’ll continue to update you on this, from time to time as the story of these amazing little flier/builders unfolds. So check back and follow along. Perhaps we can find ways to let their hope inspire and shore up our own hope.
Thought I’d let you know that I’m in some trouble here, this morning, after yelling David’s name with such urgency that he thought I was injured, rather than just needing to share these mind-blowingly cool nests that your Bushtit neighbors are making. Totally worth it, of course.
I don’t know is it’s possible for humans to have nest-envy, but if it is, I have it. Thank you so, so much for all these gorgeous images, my friend.
A lovely read David, I feel slightly envious of anyone who lives where there are humming birds, the closest we get here is the humming bird moth, as fascinating as it is, there is no comparison!