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Photo Submission
Submitted By
Jessica Thorsen
Maple Valley, WA, USA
Description
This bird chose to nest right by our front door, which had been surprising to both us and the bird. There are hatchlings inside now, and I’m being watched every time I open my door. I love it.
Category
Species
What Kind Of Bird Is This?
Cool! This is a Dark-eyed Junco here’s a link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Dark-eyed_Junco
Hi Jessica, This is indeed a Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon subspecies). Juncos typically build open cup nests – we have only a handful of records of Juncos nesting in cavities, such as birdhouses! If you are not already, we invite you to monitor this nest and report the data to NestWatch.
To get started, create an account here (or sign in with your Cornell Lab username and password if you already have one), review our Code of Conduct, and take the short, easy quiz to become a certified nest monitor. Then, go to the Your Data homepage, Add a New Nest Site to report the exact location of your nest, and Start a New Nesting Attempt to begin entering data for this clutch. Enter as much data as you can for each nest visit, and attach photos if you wish. When you’re done, click Summarize to tell us the outcome of the nest. These valuable data that are submitted to the NestWatch database join hundreds of thousands of other nest records that are made available to researchers for scientific research.
I have noticed that Dark-Eyed Juncos don’t often use birdhouses, but it seems that the ones (like this one) that they do use, are covered in moss or other plant material. Curious….
Also, the birdhouses I’ve seen them use are typically next to an active doorway and attached to a building. I want to put up a birdhouse like that one and see if I can attract some Dark-Eyed Juncos.
Dark-eyed Junco