Date: 4/8/26 2:09 pm From: Jared Del Rosso <jared.delrosso...> Subject: [cobirds] Nest building Blue Jays & E. Phoebes - Arapahoe
I went out briefly on Monday to the High Line Canal in Centennial and Greenwood Village (Arapahoe County). There, I encountered an Eastern Phoebe pair. (As far as I know, a pair of E. Phoebes has been present in this area only since 2024.) I briefly spotted one collecting nesting material, a little mucky stuff.
Eastern Phoebes are known for incorporating mosses into their nests. This is what *Birds of the World *says: "The green moss is an invariable component in nest construction and its presence is diagnostic; late season nests during dry periods may have less moss (HPW)."
Mosses are scarcer in this area, but certainly not absent. There are nice collections of mosses along the creek in spots. Over-irrigated lawns also often have them, usually at their edges. These (the over-irrigated lawns) too, are present in the area.
As someone with a budding interest in bryophytes, I hope to observe and possibly photograph this pair collecting mosses. Unfortunately, for me, I think the nest is in an impossible-to-photograph location along the Little Dry Creek. So it would have to be the birds in action.
I also encountered a Blue Jay pair creating a twiggy nest over the Little Dry Creek. One of the pair was spending a lot of time sitting atop and moving around the nest, as if to customize the opening. Again, *Birds of the World *is helpful here, though I don't think it describes *exactly* what I was seeing -- "Females may shape nest cup by pressing soaked breast against sides of cup. This is perhaps done only when wet leaves are used to line nest (see below)" -- as I didn't notice the birds handling wet leaves.
Later that day, a male Broad-tailed went over me while I was doing nothing in my yard. First of the year for me.
- Jared Del Rosso Centennial, CO
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