A pair of robins have stolen the vireo’s nest under the awning over our porch. Vireos have been nesting there for at least the past four years. The robins moved in while I was away in Maryland. They’ve been nesting there for a while, and it appears they may be in the final stages of incubation.
Today a vireo showed up, and there has been some drama. He (I’m assuming it’s a he — it could be a she) has been flying in furiously and getting whichever parent is not sitting the nest all riled up and they both fly back and forth while the nester hunkers down. It gets quiet for a while, and then he’s back, stirring things up again.
I prefer the vireos. Their nests are much neater and more compact. Robins nests are big and sloppy in comparison. I think the vireos blame me somehow for the loss of their ancestral home. One of them dove at me, twittering madly yesterday (the bird was twittering madly — just in case you got a different visual on that). It did get my attention! I think the vireos are lobbying for me to throw the squatters out. As far as I’m concerned, it’s between them and the robins. I don’t wish to be involved.
Had a pair of wrens that nested a couple of years in a large hanging spider plant until the pot parted ways with the support wires. Two fatalities. Repotted the plant, but wrens have not returned. Have been waiting for a notice of a wrongful death suit filed by Blue Jay, Sparrow & Wren, P.C.