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Submitted By
Suzy
Semora, NC
Description
I saw cardinals building this nest and have never seen a bird nest like this! I don’t want to use this door and destroy the nest. It is now November, so the little ones are gone. Should i leave the nest alone? Will they come back? It is a perfectly protected area for a nest – smart cardinals!
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Never Seen A Cardinal Nest Like This Before!
Hi Suzy, great find! This nest was likely built by a Barn Swallow – Northern Cardinals do not generally build nests in such open areas, preferring to build in deep cover of bushes and shrubs. Cardinals also do not use mud to build their nests. Here’s an example of a Barn Swallow nest that you can compare to this photo of a typical cardinal nest. This all said, it’s certainly possible to have seen a cardinal visiting this nest, perhaps checking it out for food or roosting space. Do you have any photos of the cardinals using or building the nest?
In any case, you don’t need to do anything with the nest. This time of year it should be inactive, so as long as there is no nesting activity, you can either remove the nest, or leave it in case birds decide to use it next spring – whatever you prefer.
Made with mud.
Definitely a Barn Swallow nest
You can throw it away.