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Nesting Again
Some species of birds raise multiple broods of young each year
© Peter Macdonald
Raising baby birds is a lot of work. You might think that after seeing off their fledged young ones, bird parents would call it a day. But a surprising number of species start again and raise another set of young in the same breeding season — what’s called double brooding. Some birds squeeze in even more broods each year. Mourning Doves have been seen trying to raise six clutches of eggs in one season!
BirdNote®
Nesting Again
Written by Conor Gearin
This is BirdNote.
[Rose-breasted Grosbeak song]
Raising baby birds is a lot of work. You might think that after seeing off their fledged young ones, bird parents would call it a day — or a breeding season, anyway.
And some birds do invest all their energy in one brood of chicks per year, especially bigger birds. But a surprising number of species start again and raise another set of young in the same breeding season — what’s called double brooding.
[House Wren song]
Young birds have high mortality rates, so doubling up on babies can help offset any losses that the species faces over the year. And it turns out that even some bigger birds, such as owls, will raise another brood if conditions are right.
[Barn Owl call]
Some birds squeeze in even more broods each year, particularly ones that often lose eggs to predators. Mourning Doves, which nest on the ground, have been seen trying to raise six clutches of eggs in one season!
[Mourning Dove song]
These doves live by the saying that if at first you don’t succeed — nest, nest again.
For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.
Support for BirdNote is provided by Mary Pigott from Seattle, Washington, and generous listeners around the world.
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Senior Producer: John Kessler
Producer: Mark Bramhill
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Conor Gearin
Content Director: Jonese Franklin
Bird sounds provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Rose-breasted Grosbeak ML94313 recorded by Wil Hershberger, House Wren ML144011 recorded by Randolph Little, Barn Owl ML356577711 recorded by Chris Wood, and Mourning Dove ML218252501 recorded by Paul Marvin.
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2024 BirdNote June 2024
Narrator: Michael Stein
ID# nest-13-2024-06-28 nest-13
Reference:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-019-04557-z
https://www.jstor.org/stable/4164077
https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/mourning-dove
https://sora.unm.edu/sites/default/files/journals/auk/v103n01/p0196-p02…
Michael Stein
Narrator
Conor Gearin
WriterSights & Sounds
