OMG!!! I can't believe it - MORE BIRDIES!!!! UPDATE: NEW PHOTOS, 6/18/15!!!
Last edited Thu Jun 18, 2015, 11:44 PM - Edit history (2)
Okay, I'm starting a new thread (in honor of TexasTowelie's birthday - seems fitting!)
We have a NEW BATCH OF BIRDIES sprouting in that little nest!!!
Our son came hurrying in to tell us the news yesterday afternoon (Sunday 6/7). He said he thought he heard chirping up inside that little nest that's been part of our lives since we first discovered it built up against the wall high up near the ceiling of the overhang, over our front door. Just this past April we had hatchlings up in there - for the third time in three years! They're Black Phoebes - little birds I liked to call "tuxedo birds" before we figured out what species they were. They have little black heads, little white breasts, and dark gray backs and wings and tails (with a little bit of white feathers tucked in underneath - you can see 'em when the birds fly or do their characteristic tail flipping.) They flip their tails up and down as they chirp, when they're perched somewhere like on a tree branch or something. I think it's part of their communication.
We learned that they're capable of as many as two or three nests-full a year, but we've only seen one set of hatchlings each year... UP TIL NOW!!!
I ran out after my son to the front door to take a listen. We both stood there craning our necks trying to hear better. After a few moments - SONUVABITCH!!!!!! More chirping!!! OMG!!! There's some more little baby birdies up in there again! No wonder that adult bird has been up in there every night lately, and hanging out up there during the day. I thought it was just either one of the earlier hatchlings coming back to his/her "old room" for awhile, or maybe a newer arrival who discovered the open nest and thought - hey! Cool! A free flop! But it's a whole new family starting up in there now!
About an hour later, my husband and I went out for a quick trip to the grocery store and came back. I tested my theory again - and after a few moments, sure enough - there they were again! More little chirps and cheeps to be heard! OH MAN, I CAN'T WAIT!!!! That means two more weeks of Birdie Fun around here!
There WILL be photos.
= new reply since forum marked as read
She sent me a photo, taken about three weeks ago. May 16th. Hungry little mouths in there!
[img]
[/img]
Here's OUR nest - still in the same place, up against the wall under the overhang by our front door. This was taken about three weeks ago - on May 22nd. We'd started noticing somebody was hanging out in the nest again. Sleeping there at night, sometimes sitting there during the day. We could see the top of the little black head sticking up just high enough above the rim of the nest. She'd usually fly away as soon as she realized she'd been noticed. But here - you can see her tail sticking out of the nest. She's down in there. We didn't know why - until this past Sunday when we heard the little "results" making their first noises from deep down inside there!
[img]
[/img]
I thought I saw something yesterday, but I wasn't sure, and I couldn't get any photos worth beans.
TODAY, however, was another matter.
These hatchlings are LOUD! They yak and yak and yak. The whole nest fairly bristles with lots of noisy little chirping and cheeping. We hear it the moment we open the front door, and they don't quiet down right away, either. You can hear it all the way out to the sidewalk! And today, I craned my neck and thought I saw some movement up at the top of the nest. And sure enough!
[img]
[/img]
I could see TWO little beaks pointing up like little church steeples, moving around, craning their own necks upward, mouths opening, hollering to Mom and/or Dad to bring food!
[img]
[/img]
[img]
[/img]
While I can only see two for now, the noise coming from down in that nest sounds like there must be at least three in there. Maybe four. These birdies are way more noisy than the last three sets of hatchlings. And even though Mom's out there on the closest tree branch, yelling at them to keep quiet, they still carry on. They're of stronger voice now. Louder and fuller. They sound more insistent. And one of 'em - one of the two whose little beaks you see sticking up, was really straining his neck like he was almost demanding to be serviced! From sweet little "please feed me! Chirp-tweet!" to "Feed me, Dammit!"
This is SO MUCH FUN, Dammit!
[img]
[/img]
[img]
[/img]
There's one who seems to stick his little head up above the rim of the nest most frequently.
[img]
[/img]
And sometimes it's feeding time, or yelling for Mom for same... LOTS of jibber-jabber and they move around in jerky little movements, craning their little necks, and sometimes it's hard to get a clear shot.
[img]
[/img]
Mom's nearby. They start reacting.
[img]
[/img]
Then they hear her chirp.
[img]
[/img]
[img]
[/img]
[img]
[/img]
And it's really amazing. ONE squawk from her and they immediately react. In perfect unison. The little mouths immediately open - together. On cue! And as quickly as they all open, they immediately kinda half-close. Then they start in a little more random opening and closing. But it's as though the parent bird chirps loudly from the nearby tree, and it's like flicking a switch. Attention everybody! Mouths Open - NOW!!!!!
And btw, it's Paul McCartney's birthday today!
something was up today. They would fly to the hole there and then back to the power line.
I did not know they could have more than one nesting a year either. I learn such cool things at DU!
Thanks so much for helping me laugh and relax a bit in a rough week. 
we're kind of waiting for our to do a third also. It's never happened before, a third batch I mean, and our Robin is always a week later then the neighbors, so we're kind of holding our breath to see if ours will do another batch also. Our Robin's first batch had three initially, one egg fell or got dropped out of the nest so she had two. Her 2nd batch had just one baby......so we wonder even if she does have a third how many will be born. 
Thank you guys for sharing YOUR birdie stories! SO neat to see and read and savor!
I'm amazed at how much we've learned about bird behavior, just hanging out here and observing. I guess that's the scientific method at work, 'eh? Oooooooooohhh, science! Can't have THAT, 'eh? 
My husband and I have started "playing" with our birdies. He immediately wanted to start looking up things online, researching just what these species were - what kind of birds do we have in this little microclimate? Then he found there was a formal name for the little birdies I was calling "Tuxedo Birds" because I didn't know what they were. They're "Black Phoebes." And once you discover what the bird is, then you start discovering other stuff about that bird - where its habitat is, in the country; what it eats; its mating and nesting behavior; its migratory habits if any; AND its calls.
And these websites like the Audubon Society - https://www.audubon.org -- OR Cornell University's allaboutbirds.org -- check 'em out!
He started looking for local info, like for example, birds of Westwood and birds of L.A. and thereabouts. Google is your friend! What's really neat is, these sites have recorded bird calls on these various pages. And those are COOL! Sit outside and play with 'em! Click on the bird call and listen! If that's one of the bird species in your neighborhood - YOU CAN START TALKING TO THOSE BIRDS! AND THEY'RE LIABLE TO ANSER BACK!!!!! We found that is exactly what happened. The birds of that species will likely recognize "their" sound. And they'll acknowledge it. Sometimes they'll even look at you. You can see in their head movements that they're recognizing it. They'll think another bird like them is calling out and they'll be looking for it. And they may even recognize that it MAY be coming from YOU!
We've done it with the Black Phoebes and the House Finches and the Nuttall's Woodpeckers and the Mourning Doves and the Western Scrub Jays and it's been ASTONISHING!!! Not only have they talked back, but they've been "working out" in our back yard. We've been sitting outside on our little balcony and watching - while the Black Phoebes (and the newest ones, too, I think) are diving and swooping and flapping and making circles and loops and gliding from one tree branch across the back yard to another tree branch in a tree next-door, and more. Up to our roof and down, yapping and chirping, sailing and zooming over and around and across. My husband is convinced they're yelling for me out there, and that they recognize me. Maybe it's because I have a noticeably contrasting white head (my collar-length white hair, kinda hard to miss). Maybe it's because they recognize me because they're sitting in the trees and on the power lines on our street, overlooking our house, and waiting for birdseed every morning and they see me dumping a cup or two of seeds out there every day. Maybe it's because they recognize me for coming outside and staring up at the nest and taking photos and observing them and checking on them multiple times a day.
It's really amazing. I think they're communicating with me/us. MIND-BLOWING!!!! Always perks me up. Last week during the whole Charleston horror, I spent a fair amount of time observing the birdies. Made me feel a little better.
I try to be a good caretaker. I think the birdies know it. But who can say, really?