For some types of bird, the breeding season is already over. Timed to the seasonal abundance of caterpillars, Blue Tits and Great Tits lay a single large clutch in April, sometimes containing as many as 16 eggs! The young hatch in May or June and require lots of food and care.
Other birds have smaller broods but will have multiple nesting attempts in a year. Blackbirds and Robins, for example, can nest well into August. Goldfinch is another species which uses this breeding strategy. In most years, they will produce two broods of young, but sometimes three will be attempted. The first two broods typically occur between May and July, but late nests can be found in August.
Positioned on the outermost fork of a tree branch, the nest itself is a cup of roots, grass and cobwebs, lined with plant down and wool, giving it a plush, inviting look! The nest will often contain 4 or 5 eggs. In the early stages, the adults will remove droppings, but as the chicks grow, these start to be left along the rim of the nest. This is an indication that the chicks are getting ready to leave the nest.
Though Goldfinch was once a bird associated with open farmland, their numbers have increased in gardens in recent years, likely as a result of the food we offer them. However, it is not just food that lures them in, but also breeding opportunities. Goldfinch nests are usually built in trees and hedgerows, between 1.5 and 15 metres above the ground, but they are sometimes placed in ivy or other creeping plants against a wall. Large, bushy trees and shrubs will attract a range of breeding birds, so do consider allowing these to grow in your garden if you’d like to see more birds.
If you have a Goldfinch, or any other bird, nesting in your garden, please do report it to the BTO’s Nesting Neighbours survey. This is a fantastic way to contribute your sighting to science while tracking the fortunes of your garden birds. It is important to record nest failures as well as successes, to help provide a better insight into how our birds are faring.
BTO has a code of conduct to help minimise the chance of disturbance when monitoring nesting birds, which you can find on the Nesting Neighbours page: www.bto.org/nesting-neighbours
Rob Jaques – BTO
Promoted content – Please mention the About Thetford website when responding to advertisements
