On viewing the nest box camera yesterday we were surprised to see what appeared to be two birds one on top of the other rather than the lone female sitting on her eggs. On closer inspection it turned out to be the female Blue Tit atop a male Pied Flycatcher. Both appeared quite still at first but then the female was seen to be pecking at the head of the male.
We removed the Pied Flycatcher which was seriously injured and died. The Blue Tit was completely exhausted and just lay on her eggs. But she later recovered and was fed by her mate and continues to incubate.
As two Flycatchers already in the garden are still singing we are assuming it was a male looking for a territory.
When cleaning out our nest boxes in previous years we have come across the bodies of male Pied Flycatchers and wondered what the cause had been - most probably similar to the above.
Crikey: amazing!
ReplyDeleteA remarkable picture. Published research has shown that climate change is causing Tits to breed earlier so that when Pied Flys return from Africa there is a greater conflict at nest sites. A study in the Netherlands over the past decade indicates that in the worst years up to 10% of male Pied Flys can be killed by Tits.
ReplyDeletePerhaps one solution to this is to put up more nestboxes?
we have 96 nest boxes already!
DeleteOr.... in early Spring you could block some of the nest box holes (e.g. with corks) prior to the boxes being used and then unblock them in mid April when Pied Flys start searching for nest sites. (NB Always check the box is empty before you block it up!!)
Delete