I came upon this sad scene yesterday in the yard. I wasn't sure who it had belonged to, but after a quick look online, it was clear it was built by the industrious Hooded Oriole, who I have never actually seen in our yard.
The ants were making quick work of the abandoned, tiny eggs, and I let them do their thing while I poked and prodded at the incredibly well built sock nest. Upon peering in deeper, I could see more eggs inside. From what I've seen online, it looks like these nests usually hang vertically, but the placement of the eggs and the structure of the nest make me wonder if it rested horizontally.
While this abode and family is no longer, I hope the birds try again, perhaps in a tree less infested with squirrels prone to knocking things around.
3 comments:
wow, what a cool find. looked up the hooded oriole - beautiful bird!
Looks more like the nest of the titmouse. Did you look those up?
Hmm... just looked up the titmouse and the nests do look similar! However, it looks like most titmouse nests are wedged into something, whereas this had a definite 'hanging sock' formation. I'd love to hear what others think!
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