If you have a porch with hanging baskets, you know they represent a prime nesting site to certain species of song birds, most notably wrens, sparrows and finches. The last couple of years, the finches have taken their turn at nesting on our porch. Last year it ended disastrously with a black snake climbing straight up the siding (!) and going into the nest after the chicks who were probably within a day of fledging. The snake didn't get any of them, but the babies abandoned the nest and scattered. They were never seen again - with or without the parents.
The hanging basket pictured doesn't even contain any real plants; their silk fakes. Its too early. The plants are all fake, but that didn't make any difference to the female. She was probably thinking, if the plants aren't real then they don't need to be watered, so I won't get water dumped on me from time to time. At least, that is what I would be thinking. You can see that, for a plain brown bird, she is pretty handsome.
The only thing about these birds is they will drive you crazy when you want to enjoy the porch yourself. She is not too bold, so when you come out the door, she flies off. Sometimes she sneaks back and sits on her eggs (of which she has five currently), but sometimes she stays away for quite a while. So, like last year, when we deferred to her and stayed down the other end of the porch as much as possible, we find our use of the porch restricted. Whaddaya gonna do?
They are basically pretty sweet birds and have a mellow little voice. To his credit, the male doesn't run off gallivanting, but stays and keeps a look out if not actually guarding the female during the nesting period. Here, he is biding his time on the branch closest to the nest. He came in the other day and helped her drive off another pair of house finches who had designs on their spot. He doesn't help build the nest either, but he stays with the female everywhere she goes to gather nesting material.
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