The picture shows a Carolina Wren in the nest bottle where it is building a nest. Wrens seem to like to build close t0 where we live. Maybe you have one nesting in a hanging basket or in your mail box! Weeks ago you may have begun to see birds carrying nest materials to their chosen spots. And now you may begin to see signs that birds are laying eggs in those nests or maybe even beginning to feed newly hatched baby birds. Each species has its own particular kind of nest and preference for location and type of nesting material. The Brown-headed Nuthatch, which has been the focus of local interest, nests in cavities in trees or in nest boxes designed to attract them. Other birds, such as the American Goldfinch construct their tightly woven nests in forks in trees. Some birds, such as the Ovenbird, build their nests on the ground. Eagles and Ospreys build nests high up in tops or trees or on a cliff. Here’s a link to an interesting story about Osprey nesting on a platform on Lake Norman instead of on a chimney: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2014/03/27/4798425/osprey-take-to-new-lake-norman.html#.Uz1YQVznD40
Here’s a link to a Nest Cam that is watching a Red Tailed Hawk nest: http://cams.allaboutbirds.org/channel/16/Red-tailed_Hawks/
And here’s a site that allows you to participate by recording information about nests you observe in your yard or neighborhood. http://nestwatch.org. This site also give information that can be useful to you in understanding the best way to carefully observe nests so as to have as little impact on the birds as possible. You don’t want your interest in the bird’s nest to cause the nest to fail.
And here’s a nice website designed for children to explore. You’ll find more information about birds and nesting here: http://www.biokids.umich.edu/critters/.
Hope you have fun watching for signs of birds nesting and learning more about the World of Wonder around you.