# A bird is nesting in my weed-whacker
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [April 22, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627 "2012-04-22T20:51:36Z")
**Posts on this page:** 16
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/1 "2012-04-22T20:51:36Z")
Today when I went into my shed to get a rake, I noticed a strange agglomeration of fluffy crud about six feet up one wall, [sticking out of the business end of a weed-whacker.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/touton/birdieinweewacker.jpg)
Mom apparently figures that if she hunches down and doesn’t look at me, I can’t see her either.
This is the second dimwitted bird to nest at the Jackmanniis this year. The other is a mama duck who installed a nest at the base of a blue spruce tree in my front yard (the tree is all of about three feet high and doesn’t provide a lot of cover). Before we knew she was there, Mrs. J. was walking the Labrador and spooked her into zooming out and doing the “oh, oh, I’ve broken my wing and I’m a sitting duck” dance to lure them away from the nest.
I can do without the weed-whacker for now (actually I haven’t used it for a couple of years), but I do have to go into and out of the shed on occasion, and just a couple weeks ago I had to chase a cat out of there (mice like to nest in the shed in addition to Dumb Birdie).
If I spot a rabbit nest, all bets are off. I’ve got a garden to protect.
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### Author:  [@madrabbitwoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madrabbitwoman)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/2 "2012-04-22T21:42:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> Today when I went into my shed to get a rake, I noticed a strange agglomeration of fluffy crud about six feet up one wall, [sticking out of the business end of a weed-whacker.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/touton/birdieinweewacker.jpg)
>
> Mom apparently figures that if she hunches down and doesn’t look at me, I can’t see her either.
>
> This is the second dimwitted bird to nest at the Jackmanniis this year. The other is a mama duck who installed a nest at the base of a blue spruce tree in my front yard (the tree is all of about three feet high and doesn’t provide a lot of cover). Before we knew she was there, Mrs. J. was walking the Labrador and spooked her into zooming out and doing the “oh, oh, I’ve broken my wing and I’m a sitting duck” dance to lure them away from the nest.
>
> I can do without the weed-whacker for now (actually I haven’t used it for a couple of years), but I do have to go into and out of the shed on occasion, and just a couple weeks ago I had to chase a cat out of there (mice like to nest in the shed in addition to Dumb Birdie).
>
> If I spot a rabbit nest, all bets are off. I’ve got a garden to protect.
“Thump” “thump thump”
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/3 "2012-04-22T22:02:58Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> I can do without the weed-whacker for now
It’s actually illegal in the U.K. to disturb a bird’s nest that has eggs in it.
> [@](#):
>
> and just a couple weeks ago I had to chase a cat out of there (mice like to nest in the shed in addition to Dumb Birdie)
Then I don’t rate Dumb Birdie’s chances.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/4 "2012-04-22T22:49:10Z")
Do your part to help select for a generation of birds smart enough not to do that. Assuming you’re not in the UK, of course.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [April 22, 2012, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/5 "2012-04-22T23:02:04Z")
This is really going to cramp my style for as long as the bird(s) are raising young.
When I bring the lawnmower back to the shed, I have been in the habit of propping the front wheels up just inside the shed entrance while the mower is running, in hopes that the noise and vibration will chase out whatever creatures are trying to make a home in or under the shed (we’ve had groundhogs living under there). Can’t do that now, drat.
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### Author:  [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2012, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/6 "2012-04-23T02:08:48Z")
Carolina Wren, as I suspected. They love to nest in anything man-made. Look at it this way: in a month or so you’ll have a bevy of wrenlings hopping all over your yard bringing death to any creepy-crawlies they see.
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2012, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/7 "2012-04-23T17:17:21Z")
One time, at my mom’s old apartment complex, a bird started nesting RIGHT outside the sliding glass window, in a tomato planter. We could open the blinds and look at the mom all day long. Then the babies hatched. It was inordinately adorable 😃
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### Author:  [@limegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/limegreen)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/8 "2012-04-23T17:28:03Z")
We have a pair of robins nesting in a mini crab tree thingie, which puts the nest about two feet off the ground, and about six feet from our back door. Perfect height for Simple Dog (beagle/retriever mix) to poke her head into every time she goes outside – just to say hi and be neighborly like. I figure those eggs don’t stand much of a chance.
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2012, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/9 "2012-04-23T17:36:34Z")
I have sparrows nesting inside my Christmas light ball.
[ ](https://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s74/VIVALOSTWAGES/sparrows.jpg)
The weedwhacker tops this, though.
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### Author:  [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2012, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/10 "2012-04-23T18:24:20Z")
I had a [robin](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=514929) keep trying to build a nest on a support column of my front porch every year. Eventually, I put a couple rocks up there and it quit trying.
I like birds and don’t have anything against them (well pigeons I can do without), but it was pretty obnoxious when that robin would keep trying to make the nest. It seems like at least half the building material would end up on the porch. Can you imagine building house and having half the bricks lay around the site unused? Of course, I can’t imagine using my own poop to mortar the bricks together either.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [April 23, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/11 "2012-04-23T20:21:43Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#):
>
> I have sparrows nesting inside my Christmas light ball.
>
> [http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s74/VIVALOSTWAGES/sparrows.jpg](http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s74/VIVALOSTWAGES/sparrows.jpg)
Aww.
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### Author:  [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/12 "2012-04-24T16:15:13Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> Aww.
They’re getting bigger…
[ ](https://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s74/VIVALOSTWAGES/015.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [April 24, 2012, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/13 "2012-04-24T18:47:49Z")
> [@vivalostwages](#):
>
> They’re getting bigger…
>
> [http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s74/VIVALOSTWAGES/015.jpg](http://i149.photobucket.com/albums/s74/VIVALOSTWAGES/015.jpg)
AWWW!
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### Author:  [@Headrush042](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Headrush042)
#### Post date: [April 25, 2012, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/14 "2012-04-25T18:04:59Z")
I have a family of robins nesting beneath my deck. The hatchlings are getting rather plump, and I imagine they’ll be flying away soon. Which is great, because as cool as it is to watch them, I need to mow the yard without getting dive-bombed! (As well as wash the pile of birdshit from my porch)
[ ](https://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh143/headrush042/bird.jpg)
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/15 "2012-04-29T17:39:48Z")
**so far so good**
We have wren babies! (two, it looks like, just hatched). I would have taken photos, but they are very tiny so far, blending into the nest fuzz and the parents appeared to be making a loud stink close by because I was near the nest, so I backed off.
Next I’ll mow the front yard, trying to keep away from the spruce tree to forestall any frenzied mama duck excursions.
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### Author:  [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)
#### Post date: [April 29, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-bird-is-nesting-in-my-weed-whacker/619627/16 "2012-04-29T17:49:33Z")
Post pictures when you can!