BANGOR DAILY NEWS • June 22, 2023
It’s a constant worry. There are many ground-nesting birds in Maine, and I fret that if I lead a dozen pairs of feet tromping off a trail, someone will stomp a nest. I know, because I’ve come so close to doing it myself. I remember missing one white-throated sparrow nest by inches, seconds after warning my group to watch out for nests. If ground nesting is so perilous, why do many birds do it? If it didn’t work, any bird following that strategy would have gone extinct eons ago. Large birds can build tree nests. Raptors, herons and egrets do it. However, they raise smaller broods. It’s likely that ground nests provide more camouflage for small songbirds, concealing their chicks deeper in vegetation. Meanwhile, tree-nesting birds face the threat of raids from crows, jays and red squirrels. Hell hath no fury like a robin trying to drive off a hungry squirrel. ~ Bob Duchesne