Mud nest

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donella62
donella62's picture
Mud nest

Hi new here, I'm hoping someone may be able to tell me what little bird this is, they are making a nest in dirt with grass and twigs under a concrete slab, I was in the process of removing the dirt to eliminate nut grass, the birds have moved in since so I've dug it out abit at the point where they're going in to try and discourage them but that hasn't worked. It's not a great photo sorry but they are tiny and I thought they were finches but I'm not sure, I'm worried about filling it in just in case more than two are building the nest and I don't want to bury them. Thanks

SteveM
SteveM's picture

It's really hard to tell from that photo. Just a guess, could it be a Pardalote, maybe Striated Pardalote. I'm not sure about your nest description. Pardalote's dig short tunnels in earth banks & then build a grass nest at the end of the tunnel.

Elsie
Elsie's picture

hmm, it's a bit tricky to tell, but maybe could it be a house sparrow? It looks a bit like that to me, but I think they build in small shrubs and not with dirt. Sorry, not much of a help, have you been able to take any other photos of the bird? And is it possible to get a photo of the nest itself? this might help with the identification process. If you have got any closer shots of the bird could you post them up here, the experts here should be able to identify it then :) Have a great day!

Canonguy
Canonguy's picture

Straited Pardalote sounds about right to me in this case. Since the hard to see photo does not show any real resemblence to Spotted Pardalote, I say Striated. They will build nests as SteveM said for sure.

Araminta
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If I can put my 5 cents of opinion in? If you have a look at the fence, the bit of the post in comparison to the bird, tells me that this bird is larger than a Pardalote. The beak is too broad and large in relation to the body, and the legs are too long. If I hadn't read about the kind of nest it is contructing, I would even say Grey Butcherbird.

M-L

Rick N
Rick N's picture

The post is 50mmx50mm, rails are 38x25. That makes it about the right size for a Pardalote for me.

rawshorty
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Rick N wrote:

The post is 50mmx50mm, rails are 38x25. That makes it about the right size for a Pardalote for me.

I concure on the post and rail size.

Shorty......Canon gear

Canberra

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