Date: 5/21/26 10:19 am From: Alfred Maley <alfredmaley...> Subject: [NHBirds] Male GCFL Exhorts Female to Hurry Up and Build That Nest!
For years now the Great Crested Flycatchers have ignored the
Cornell-approved nest boxes and focused solely on empty Wood Duck nest
boxes in the yard. The female does all the work (naturally) while the male
screams encouragement. The task is significant as these birds feel that the
entire 8x8 inch floor space of level sawdust MUST be improved by adding 2
inches of pine needles across the entire floor except in one corner where
the actual nest is made.
Knowing this we save a bushel of pine needles each Fall and when the
flycatchers have made their selection, spread out the pine needles close to
the nest box. Today I timed Mrs. Flycatcher. She takes 13 seconds to drop
from the nest box, get a large mouthful of pine needles and return to the
nest box. It takes her 5 seconds to drop or spread the needles and emerge
from the box. This goes on for hours each day for a couple days until the
task is completed. Mr. Flycatcher peeks in every few minutes to do a
quality check.
Mrs. Flycatcher was heard to say “You mean I flew all the way here from
Guatemala to do this?” That said, these nests have always been successful
in our experience as the predator guards keep most all mammalian predators
at bay and the avian ones would have a hard time reaching the nest itself.
