Pam:

I have no comment on the mating preferences of woodpeckes, but with gnatcatchers I'll offer a comment.  My observations tell me that once completed with lichens spider-webbed to the exterior,  gnatcatcher nests are so cryptic that they literally disappear from sight, even before leaf-out.  I would think that house wrens, being cavity nester home-wreckers, wouldn't bother with non-cavity nesting sites.

Dan Best


On May 8, 2015, at 4:26 PM, Pam Unger wrote:

>     This Spring in the Moses Wright Nature Area (a mini-preserve on the side of Dublin-Granville Rd. in Old Wrothington) I've witnessed 2 separate events that I've seen in the past but convinced myself my eyes were deceiving me.  Now I'm sure.    ONE:  The Tale of the Mysterious Disappearance.  I'd been watching a pair of blue gray gnatcatchers building their beautiful little nest--sort of like a giant hummingbird nest--high in a big old tree that hadn't yet leafed out.  They appeared to be putting the finishing touches on it.  Last time I went, expecting to see the female brooding on this masterpiece . . . it was GONE.  Now, I know that male house wrens construct a number of make-shift nests to display to their wives, and I know that the wives reject these poor efforts but condescend to take one apart and rebuild it satisfactorily.  But the gnatcatcher nest was a joint effort and appeared perfect.  They didn't just abandon it--they totally disassembled it.  What's up with that?


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