I’m rubbish on nests. I have been asked what species of bird made this nest and I haven’t really got a clue!
Please help me out so I can look clever…
It’s about 8cm in diameter (just over 3″ in old money).
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I would say initially that it looks like a member of the thrush family. Can you give us an indication of the size please Mark.
Ed – yes that might help mightn’t it?! It’s c8cm in diameter – that’s a bit over 3″ in old money.
Think probably a Chaffinch or similar bird,what a laugh if it was a Linnet.
Dennis – no! Not the evil Linnet!
A stab in the dark. What about a long tailed tit due to small size and apparent presence of cobwebs in the construction?
http://nurturing-nature.co.uk/wildlife/birds/long-tailed-tits-and-their-nests-and-food-choices/
Blackbird my husband says
My initial thought was chaffinch – but I’m pretty rubbish too!
Looks like a goldfinch nest.
My bet is on Chaffinch. A bit big for goldfinch? although the basic make up would be similar.
Looks like a Linnets, Mark.
Diapensia – aaaarggghhhhhhhhhh!
Diapensia – aaaarggghhhhhhhhhh!
Interesting – the nest is obviously ‘old’, and presumably a bit flattened/misshapen. No indication of where it was found? Really need to know this for positive ID. Garden/woods/hedgerow?
My first thought was Goldcrest but these are only 3m diameter! Both Chaffinch and Goldfinch are candidates, and materials used would fit but their nests are both 5cm. Song Thrush & Blackbird are larger and of very different construction to this nest. If the size is right [i.e. not distorted by being run over several times] the species that seems to fit is Crossbill – 7.5cm. To quote my old but trusty Field Guide to Birds Nests by Campbell & Ferguson-Lees “Foundation & framework of twigs from neighbouring trees or nests, with cup of grass, moss, wool, hair, lichen, bark fibres or down, sometimes string.” I love the little bits of knitting wool in this nest!
Linnet, Goldfinch or an outside possibility of Bullfinch, not enough lichen for chaffinch for me.
There are good clues to be had from the location of any nest. Anyone know what species nests on what look like it might be the kitchen table?
By the design you can rule out the Goldcrest as they tend to look like those bee’s nests hanging from the limbs of the branches complete with an entrance hole unless of course it’s only part of the nest you have showing in the images. The actual cup size looks quite big and the female tends to mould the shape and size of the cup from her breast. The construction and material would suggest Goldfinch as they do like to line their nests with wool (is it wool or web Mark?), but I did see a similar nest in construction and it was “my” garden robin but wasn’t 8cm in diameter so perhaps Song Thrush.
It think it is a wren’s nest. Whichever bird it is – it is a perfect work of art.
Linnet aside, it’s clearly not goldcrest, blackbird and bullfinch ( they’re too twiggy). Yes chaffinch possibly but my feeling – it’s too woven. Goldfinch yes it’s getting there but the strands which have been interwoven by turning around don’t seen typical. How about greenfinch?
Knowing where it was found would be helpful (e.g. in hedge? if so, how high up?), but on the face of it I’d suggest could be Dunnock or perhaps Robin – both make a quite mixed-construction nest using grasses, moss & twigs, lined with feathers &/or wool or whatever else is available.
Budding nest recorders could try a copy of the BTO’s 2011 field guide to monitoring nests, by Ferguson-Lees, Castell & Leech: spectacularly informative!
If not linnet I would go with hedge sparrow. What is wrong with linnets?
Diapensia,in case you did not know,it is supposed to be Mark’s least like bird.
Think really it is something he made into a joke.
Definitely one nobody’s mentioned yet – Greenfinch.
The moss is a clincher.
I remember clearly from finding Greenfinch nests in our Leven garden yew trees every year in the 1950s.
I know it’s bad form to reply to one’s own comment but I’ve just noticed that Mike Mills also nominates Greenfinch.
And what in the world has Mark got against the charmingly cheerful, colourful and tuneful Linnet?
It was always a delight to find Linnets nesting in the well-kept hawthorn hedges on my parents’ mixed livestock and arable farm in the40s, 50s and 60s.