Starling Chicks

Following on from my last post about this year's Starling nest, I'm very happy to report that, from the 5 eggs laid, we know have 5 healthy chicks.

1st May 2020

The chicks hatched out on Monday 27th April, and have enjoyed a reasonably decent (weather wise) first week of life. Both parents have been very busy bringing in food for the young birds, and they seem to be thriving.

As this box is on the side of my house, I can still monitor it for the BTO's Nesting Neighbours Scheme, and I'll be able to ring the chicks in about another week's time.

Starling Nest 2020 - Eggs are Laid

2020 is the seventh year in a row that I've had the pleasure of Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) nesting in a box that I have on the side of my house here in Derbyshire. Since the first nest back in 2014, the birds have successfully reared and fledged  a total of 32 young, most of which I have also been able to ring for the BTO's Ringing Scheme. Unfortunately, I haven't yet had any recoveries of any of these birds since fledging. This year perhaps?

Anyway, the 2020 season began on 3rd April, when the first few pieces of grass and leaves were brought into the box. I always spot this, as most of the material ends up on our back door step!! Nest building continued, and the first egg was laid on 11th April ( 4 days later than 2019, and a full week later than my earliest ever egg on 4th April 2017).

Starlings lay one egg a day, and so, by 15th April, we had a full clutch of 5 eggs.

15th April - full clutch 

The birds will now incubate for a couple of weeks, so I'll leave well alone and check on the young birds' progress, when they've hatched.

All the data that I collect will be forwarded to the BTO's Nesting Neighbours Scheme (previously known as Nestbox Challenge).

Starlings are Go!

My last post about the Starling nest on my house was on 5th May, when the 5 chicks were ringed by me (see here). Since then, the birds have continued to grow, and 4 of the 5 eventually fledged on 12th May, 18 days since they hatched. Unfortunately, 1 of the Starlings didn't make it, and was found dead in the box once the other birds had fledged. The details of the nest have been added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge Scheme.

The box was empty for a couple of days, before the adult birds started singing around it again, and today there were the first signs of nest number 2.

Starling Nest 2?

Starlings Ringed

It's been a few weeks since I last blogged about the Starling nest on my house (see here). Since then, the 5 chicks have done really well, and today I ringed them for the BTO Ringing Scheme. Details of the nest will also be entered onto the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website.

5 chicks in the nestbox

Starling chick

Starling Nest - We've got Chicks!

This year's Starling nest had 5 eggs back on 11th April. The average incubation period for this species is two weeks, so, when noise was heard from the box on 24th, is was clear this year's chicks had hatched. This was the view of the nestbox this afternoon - 5 naked and blind chicks.

5 chicks on 27th April 2019

I'll update the BTO's Nestbox Challenge site with the details, and leave the chicks for a week or so, before ringing them.

Five eggs

Following on from my last post, the Starlings have now laid a full clutch of 5 eggs.

5 eggs

This should be a complete clutch now, so I'll leave the nest alone for the next couple of weeks, until the chicks are due to hatch. As always, the details will forwarded to the BTO Nest Box Challenge.

Starling Nest - an update

I first blogged about the Starling nest on the side of my house back in April (see post here). At the time there were just 3 eggs in the nest. Another 2 eggs were laid over the next few days, and incubation began on April 18th.

5 eggs

I left the nest alone for the next couple of weeks, until I started to see and hear more activity, indicating that the eggs had hatched. This year, this happened on 1st May, exactly 2 weeks after incubation began. 5 young birds hatched. Unfortunately 1 appeared to die quite quickly afterwards, leaving the parents with 4 hungry chicks to feed. 

The parents did a brilliant job, and just a week later 4 birds had grown enough to be ringed.

8th May 2018

I had a quick check again tonight to find some well feathered chicks getting ready to fledge over the next few days.

11th May 2018

The results of this nest will be reported to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge.

All Gone!

It's been 3 weeks since I last blogged about the Starling nest in the nestbox on my house, so here's an update.

The 4 chicks hatched on 4th June, and were ringed, by me, on 10th June.

Starling pullus

3 of the young survived to fledging, bringing the total to 8 from this box this year. They were still in the box on 19th June, including this adventurous individual.

19th June 2017

The birds fledged on 20th June (Thanks Lydia for the sightings), and spent a short while in the garden, before flying off to who knows where. hopefully, the rings attached will be read somewhere, and I'll get an update on their whereabouts.

20th June 2017

Now that the nesting season is over for this box, I'll update the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website. See you all in 2018!!

Four New Chicks

On 22nd May I blogged about the Starling nestbox on my house having a second clutch of 4 eggs. On Saturday afternoon I had a look in the box and spotted .... 4 newly hatched chicks!

4 chicks

A great record, and one to add to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website.

Nice surprise!

The first brood of Starlings fledged from the nestbox on my house on 12th May. Since then, a male bird has been present singing and building a new nest. Here's what the nest looked like on 16th May.

16th May 2017

I didn't think he'd managed to attract a mate, until today when I saw an adult bird leaving the box. I had a quick peek, and spotted 4 eggs!!

22nd May 2017

According to the literature, Starlings lay 1 egg a day, so working back, the first egg must have been laid on 19th, just 7 days after the last brood fledged.  Last year, the second clutch was just 3 eggs, so this year's is already an improvement! Hopefully, they'll lay another egg tomorrow, making 2 clutches of 5.

I can now start a new record for the BTO's Nestbox Challenge scheme.

All Gone!

I last blogged about the Starling nest in April, when I ringed the chicks. Since then, they've gone from strength to strength, growing into 5 healthy, fully-feathered chicks, as can be seen in this photo taken on 8th May.

8th May 2017

Since then, there's been a lot of activity around the box, as the adult birds have tried to encourage the young to leave. By 11th (yesterday), 4 of the 5 birds had flown, and today, when I got home from work, the box was empty.

12th May 2017 - empty nest

I'll update the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website with the data, and see if the birds have another brood like they did last year.

As well as these birds to look out for, I've also had my first ever ringed adult Starling in the garden this week. First seen on the 7th May, I was very keen to get a photo of the ring, just in case it was one of the previous year's birds. Unfortunately, the ring number wasn't one from the rings I'd used, so I contacted our data manager at Sorby Breck Ringing Group, who told me that it had been ringed by another member of our group about 1 mile away in June 2016. It was aged as a 5 then, so was born in 2015. It was collecting mealworms, so presumably has a nest nearby.

Ringed Starling

Starlings Ringed

The Starling chicks in the box on the side of my house have continued to grow very nicely over the last week and a half since they hatched on 19th April. I got some "C" rings from Ray, my trainer, today and ringed the chicks.

Starling chick (just before ringing)

As you can see, this chick, 1 of 5 ringed, has begun to grow its flight feathers, and, all being well, should fledge, along with its 4 siblings, in about a week. The ring numbers will be forwarded to the BTO, so that, if the chicks are re sighted, the details of their lives can be recorded, and will add to our knowledge of this "Red listed" species. Details of the nest will also be added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge.

Starling Nest Update - 5 Chicks

Last time I blogged about the Starling nest in my nestbox was the 8th April, when I noted incubation had begun. Since then, the nest has gone from strength to strength, and we now have 5 healthy chicks, that can be heard cheeping very loudly every time the adult birds return with  a mouthful of food. Here are a couple of pictures. The first shows a full clutch of 5 eggs on the 8th April.

8th April 2017

The chicks hatched on the 19th April, after 11 days of incubation, and the second photo, taken yesterday (23rd April), shows the 5 healthy chicks.

23rd April

I'll keep an eye on them over the next few weeks, and ring the chicks as soon as they're ready. The details of the nest developments have been added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge Scheme.

Incubation's Begun

The Starling's in the nestbox have continued their nesting attempt this week, and appear to have started incubating the eggs.

Male Starling on nest

Last year (see Starling Nest 2016 labels for details), the eggs hatched after 12 days incubation, so I'll leave well alone until then, and then see what's happening at the end of April.

Details of today's visit will now to added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website.

Starlings' First egg.

The Starlings have been building a nest on the side of my house again (see labels Starling Nest 2017 for details).

Male Starling

When I got back from work this evening I spotted a male Starling in the Rowan tree in the garden, and decided to have a check on the box. I was very happy to see.... the first egg of 2017!

First egg

It's always good to see the birds doing well, and it's also interesting to compare this year's nest with the last 2 years. Last year, the first egg was laid on 7th April, and the first egg in 2015 came on 14th April. Hopefully, this pair will go on to lay another 4 eggs, like they did last year, and, who knows, perhaps a second clutch?

I'll add the details of today's visit to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website, and update the blog again when the clutch is complete, most likely at the weekend.

Starling Nest 2017- the season begins

The Starlings that nest in the box on the side of my house have been busy again this week, and have started to build their nest. This is what it looked like on Sunday afternoon.

26th March 2017

As you can see, the base of the nest is just beginning to be built. As in the previous years, I'll be recording the details of any nesting attempts to the BTO via their Nestbox Challenge Scheme, and will hopefully ring the chicks.

For details of previous year's breeding efforts, click of links entitled Starling Nest 2015 and Starling Nest 2016.

Starlings have gone

Last Thursday morning (30th June) I heard the  young Starlings in the nestbox on the side of my house. When I got home from work in the evening it was all quiet, so I had a look in and saw that the box was empty.

Empty box

As you can see, all 3 of the chicks have managed to fledge, taking this year's total to 8, the highest number in one year, and the first time this box has been used twice on the same season. I haven't seen any of the birds from either nesting attempt in the garden yet.

The details have been added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge.

Starling Update

I haven't blogged about the Starling nest on my house for a couple of weeks now, so I thought it was about time for an update.

My last post was on 8th June when the chicks had just hatched. I've enjoyed listening to the chicks being fed every day and  checked the nest this evening. This is what I found.... 3 chicks.

Starling chicks

As you can see, the chicks were looking very fit and healthy, and have grown a lot since the start of June. I ringed the birds, and updated the details on the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website. Hopefully I'll see them in the garden soon.

Starling Nest Update

The Starling nestbox on my house has been used for a second time this year, and when I came home this evening I could hear something, so I had a quick look and saw.... 3 new chicks!

3 chicks (I think)

I say 3 chicks. I can definitely see 2 gapes and I'm pretty sure there's a third body underneath the other 2. Anyway, there were definitely 3 eggs on 26th May when this photo was taken.

26th May 2016

These new arrivals will be added to the BTO's Nestbox Challenge website, and further developments will be  added to the blog.

Starling box - a second brood!!

According to the books, Starlings can sometimes have 2 broods in a year. So far, the box on the side of my house has only ever produced 1 brood a year, but not any longer.

Shortly after the 1st brood fledged, the same , or another, new male Starling was back around the box singing and attempting to attract a female. He didn't seem to be having any luck, despite having built the foundations for a new nest. Here's what the box looked like on 21st May.

A new nest - 21st May 2016

Undeterred, he carried on singing and defending the box. Today, when I got back from work, I saw a female bird sticking her head out of the box. She flew out, so I ran upstairs to check what was happening, and this is what I saw.... a new egg!!

First egg - 24th May

As you can see, the nest has been built up since the 21st, and a new brood has begun. I'll check back in a few days time, and begin another record  for the BTO's Nestbox Challenge.