Nesting Season

It's that time of Year Again!

Yellow Throated Warbler pulling nest material from our planter.

Spring or late winter in our area is an exciting time for bird and nature lovers and after autumn migration it is one of my times of the year. In Southeastern North Carolina and much of Eastern South Carolina, breeding season begins as early as late autumn. Birds such as chickadees, bluebirds, many woodpeckers, and wrens may pair or peak around for nest sites in October or November. Cardinals, Carolina Chickadees, White Breasted Nuthatches and Pine Warblers begin singing in late December (it seems to be around Christmas or just before New Year’s in Wilmington). In the Wilmington Area, chickadees, Brown Headed Nuthatches, Common Starlings, and Pine Warblers can nest as early as late February during a warm winter. After the “early birds”, the breeding season in our area can last well into August with cardinals, mockingbirds, Carolina Wrens, and even finches still raising young by the time the first autumn visitors arrive. A few birds such as Mourning Doves, Barred, Barn, and Great Horned Owls or the Bald Eagle may nest during the winter. 

Nesting in the Garden 

Bluebird Box in our garden

Virtually any neighborhood, park or garden can be a suitable habitat for songbirds and some birds of prey. Most gardens in our area may host 15-20 nesting species without anything special, although a yard with more habitat or in a rural setting might have as many species as a woodland or meadow. Even the city center has more than just House Sparrows or Rock Doves with landscaped courtyards and dooryards hosting Carolina Wrens, mockingbirds, and cardinals with as little as a few bushes or an ivy-covered wall. Nests can be found in the trees, in bushes or on the ground, while a handful of birds use cavities including tree holes, building crevices, or a birdhouse.

How to Bring Nesting Birds to the Garden

Native Plants in our garden circa 2011

Songbirds and a number of other bird species could be drawn into a garden with a few modifications. Birdhouses are a good start as they will entice chickadees, bluebirds, or in interior parts of the Carolinas, House Wrens to nest. Cardinals, mockingbirds, and House Finches can take residence in any shrub or tree with ample cover, while orioles, jays, and warblers will make do with any large shade tree. An ordinary suburban or urban yard certainly has room for improvement though. Some of the easiest ways to attract nesting birds to any garden is to make minor modifications to the landscape. You do not have to recreate a woodland or allow the garden to become overgrown to host birds. Adding additional trees, plants native to North America (or the Carolinas if possible) and reducing the use of insecticides and herbicides will provide cover as well as host insects that birds depend on to raise their young. In the Carolinas, the majority of birds that inhabit human settlement are woodland birds, so adding trees, hedgerows, and some garden beds will be enough to increase the local bird diversity significantly. Most neighborhoods already have established trees or woodland fragments. 

Starter List 

1. Reduce or find alternatives to pesticides in the garden

2. Replace some lawn or open space with garden beds, trees, hedgerows, or other landscaping 

3. Plant native trees, shrubs, and plants to increase insect diversity. Some good plants include oaks, pines, and dogwoods for trees, viburnums, Coral Honeysuckle, and Red Cedar for shrubs. Native or nonnative flowering plants both attract insects 

4. Try to prune trees, shrubs, and hedges during the autumn, or winter to avoid disturbing nesting birds 

5. Connect woodlands or hedges with corridors. These can be as simple as planting tall perennials or a row of azaleas from a forest edge to make a hedgerow. 

6. Leave a corner of the garden quiet (no playing, pets, or heavy maintenance), this is where shier species such as thrushes, thrashers, sparrows, and wrens will nest.   

7. Put up birdhouses, gourds or ledges for chickadees, bluebirds, flycatchers, and House Wrens. Carolina Wrens don't use birdhouses but will use wicker baskets or gourds. 

8. Watch and listen for nesting activity such as birds picking up material, carrying insects, and observe any nests from a respectful distance 

9. Keep cats, and dogs inside or supervise them closely.

10. At the Bird Table, offer mealworms, suet, and other soft foods as many species of birds including species that rarely come to feeders otherwise will use the supplemental food for themselves to their nestlings. Catbirds, starlings, warblers, wrens, woodpeckers, and bluebirds especially enjoy these food items during the spring and summer. 

Common Breeding Species 

1. Northern Cardinal 
2. Northern Mockingbird 
3. Carolina Wren
4. American Robin 
5. House Finch 
6. Mourning Dove 
7. Pine or Yellow Throated Warbler (former if there are more pines) 
8. Brown Thrasher 
9. Blue Jay (around oaks or beeches)
10. Chipping Sparrow (mostly in pine dominated areas) 

Hole Nesting Species 

1. Carolina Chickadee 
2. Eastern Bluebird 
3. Tufted Titmouse 
4. Red Bellied Woodpecker
5. House Sparrow (more so in urban centers)
6. Common Starling 
7. Great Crested Flycatcher 
8. Downy Woodpecker (in forested sections)
9. Pileated Woodpecker
10. Protonotary Warbler (near water)

Nesting Birds that are Overlooked 

1. Orchard Oriole 
2. Prairie Warbler, Common Yellowthroat (habitat dependent) 
3. Ruby Throated Hummingbird 
4. Indigo Bunting (Painted Bunting near seacoast)
5. Eastern Wood Pewee
6. Red Eyed Vireos
7. Grey Catbird 
8. Blue Grey Gnatcatcher 
9. Yellow Billed Cuckoo 
10. Eastern Towhee
11. Wood Thrush (but declining in numbers)
12. Look out for oddities such as night herons, ibis, geese, turkeys, owls, hawks, and Killdeer Plovers that may choose to nest in yards near suitable habitats. 

Nest Gallery 

Mockingbird with fledgling circa 2010

Carolina Wrens build some of the most complex nests in our area 

Eastern Bluebird eggs 

Carolina Chickadee nestlings