Outdoor Ontario
Birding Reports => Toronto Reports => Topic started by: skyviewer on July 11, 2009, 09:28:24 AM
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Right before the ticket office on the south side there were a number of males and a single nesting female. Is it normal for the nest to be close to the ground? I didn't see it but by the actions of the female and one of the males i knew it was close by in some heavy brush.
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According to my Birder's Handbook the Indigo Bunting nests anywhere from 1 foot to 15 feet off the ground.
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I didn't see it but i'd guess it was no more than 3 feet off the ground. I do think i heard little ones in the nest but i'm puzzled with all of the males that were around. Could they have been other or was it just one popular female. I only recalled seeing one female which stayed near the nest but there were about six males.
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Well...again, according to the Birder's Handbook, it says "the amount of male parental care is highly variable: most do little if any feeding of nestlings or fledglings." So maybe what you saw was a result of this behaviour...all the males were out playing while the females were back at the nest sites doing all the work. Just a thought.
One day last week I was out doing a little birding in the Bellamy Ravine here in Scarborough and all I saw was the male Indigo so maybe I witnessed the same thing happening. Don't know for sure, I'm still learning too.
Walter
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for the help bluffs birder