Cavity-nesting birds build nests, lay eggs, and raise their young within a sheltered chamber, often a tree cavity or a structure like a birdhouse. “Primary cavity nesters” excavate their own nesting holes, while “secondary cavity nesters” rely on abandoned holes created by primary cavity nesters or use various sheltered places, including birdhouses.
Some birds go both ways; chickadees, for instance, can excavate their own cavities or use existing ones. Cavity nesters familiar to all of us in the United States are woodpeckers, owls, wrens, and swallows.
This month we also have a lot of birds that are not cavity nesting. In the captions below, I have added “CN” after the title to designate cavity nester.
Judith photographed these birds at the Audubon site in Ipswich, Massachusetts. She noted, “They were also feeding their chicks inside the tree cavity the day I was there. I loved them at first sight. Both adults came back and forth to feed the chicks.”
Donna Breslin: Lunch Time. CN. Watercolor and ink. [Pileated woodpeckers.]Susan Burdick: Purple Martin. CN. Watercolor. [The purple martin is the largest swallow in North America. Nearly all eastern members of the species exclusively nest in artificial gourds and “condo” units provided by human “landlords,” and this practice has been experiencing a steady decline.]Jim Eichenberger: White-Breasted Nuthatch. CN. Watercolor and tempera. [Jim reports, “This bird nests in tree cavities, either natural cavities or abandoned woodpecker holes. It’s very shy, apparently flipping upside-down whenever it spots a camera, as you can see on the Internet. Its name is almost as funny as the blue-footed booby.]Barb Zimmer: Black-Throated Blue Warbler. Watercolor.Alex Welsch and Torsten Jahr: East Village Love Birds. Felt-tip pen. [Based on a stained-glass bird that was hanging in an East Village flat in New York City.]Toby Goodshank: Schutzflug. Felt-tip pen.Andrew A. Angling Up. Colored pencil.Martha Larkin: Eastern Bluebird. CN. Colored pencil.Carolyn Rondthaler: Eastern Bluebird. CN. Watercolor.Marian Wiseman: Eastern Bluebird. CN. Watercolor.
Share this: New blog post from the Wednesday Studio
THE WEDNESDAY STUDIO 
Wonderful, as usual!!
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A great collection! Thanks for putting it all together.
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