On the side of my house I have two bird houses, one on each side of the garden window located over my kitchen sink and each house about 4 ft. from the window. The holes were drilled small so as only chickadees could fit in.
I then set up two mirrors in the window sill so that I could observe both houses while standing at my sink.
Anyway, for the past 3 weeks I've been watching a pair of chickadees flitting in and out from one house to the other. I'm not sure of their behavior but I think they are building nests in both houses until they decide on the one they want to rent............
It's been fun watching them work and I hope the outcome is better than last year when I stupidly took their house down to inspect the inside after not seeing them for a while. Turns out they had NINE eggs in it so I replaced it. They returned to the house only a couple of times before they abandoned it.......
Lesson learned, I'm leaving it alone for the season.........
So can anyone here school me on chickadee behavior regarding the two nests?
I have Carolina Chickadees nesting in at least one of my nesting boxes, Bluebirds in one, and probably Prothonotary Warblers in one. The Chickadees usually compete with the Bluebirds for at least one box.
I did a little poking around, here’s what I found. (quoted)
They will have several different nest site locations excavated before selecting the one they use.
Should predators become a problem, the nesting pair will abandon the nest and build a new one some distance away.
From here
http://www.wild-bird-watching.com/Chickadees.html