# Breeding Behaviour in House Finches **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 7, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breeding-behaviour-in-house-finches/355783 "2006-05-07T18:32:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breeding-behaviour-in-house-finches/355783/1 "2006-05-07T18:32:25Z")
We have a breeding pair of House Finches _(Carpodacus mexicanus)_ which took up residence on our porch this season. Approximately three weeks ago, we noticed the nest, then a few days later we heard the peeps and saw the heads of baby birds. They grew astonishingly quickly and have seemingly fledged. I notice that the female is on the next again. My google search tells me that sometimes these birds will breed twice in a breeding season, but is it common that they would lay so very quickly after the last clutch? ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breeding-behaviour-in-house-finches/355783/2 "2006-05-07T18:51:02Z")
How many days between fledging and starting the next clutch? The female will probably lay as soon as she can stock up enough energy reserves to start producing eggs again. If there is lots of food around, it might not take that much time. ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2006, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breeding-behaviour-in-house-finches/355783/3 "2006-05-07T18:54:20Z")
I noticed the babies on the nest less than a week ago, making signs that they were going to fledge - standing on the edge and flapping their wings, the parents flying repeatedly in front of the nest, that sort of thing. (I actually just did the ‘touchdown!’ motion and said “Yay! Colibri answered my question!” before clicking. :)) ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breeding-behaviour-in-house-finches/355783/4 "2006-05-08T03:33:49Z")
We had a house finch nest on the inside of the pillar that holds up the porch roof, on that sort of little ledge there, and we thought, “Oh, how cute!” and let it be, and when they were finally done with the nest in the fall, we discovered that where the cute little birdies had sat on the edge of their nest and pooped over the side all summer, was unscrubbable bird poo stain all over the ledge and down the porch pillar. So. sorry to be a wet blanket carry on ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breeding-behaviour-in-house-finches/355783/5 "2006-05-08T03:58:34Z")
> [@Duck Duck Goose](#): > > We had a house finch nest on the inside of the pillar that holds up the porch roof, on that sort of little ledge there, and we thought, “Oh, how cute!” and let it be, and when they were finally done with the nest in the fall, we discovered that where the cute little birdies had sat on the edge of their nest and pooped over the side all summer, was unscrubbable bird poo stain all over the ledge and down the porch pillar. > > So. > > sorry to be a wet blanket > carry on That’s where they’ve set up housekeeping at our place, too. Do you live in my house? At any rate, we bought a new house today and I’m not going to be scrubbing any bird poo. Not because I want to leave a mess for the next tenants, but because we’ll have gone before the next clutch hatches (closing within a month). ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2006, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breeding-behaviour-in-house-finches/355783/6 "2006-05-08T13:19:04Z")
You **are** evil. 😃