Avian romance is in the air. In the garden we have two robins that are very much a pair and should shortly start nest building ready for egg laying in late March. The cup nest, built by the female alone, is made of dead leaves and moss, lined with hair. Courtship feeding is a very prominent activity, and the male can supply more than a third of his mate's food intake during nest building and egg laying.
Our Ramsbury ravens are also in the same mood. Peter has seen a pair in Newtown Road that are nesting nearby, while another friend was delighted to hear a pair making the soft warbling courtship sounds rather than their usual loud ‘Cronk‘. Young ravens, between two and four years old, perform their acrobatic courtship flight in early March. They can be seen flying in formation and swooping down on each other. The males are competing for the attention of the females. After the selections are made the pairs stay together for life.
This is also the time to look out for male wrens building nests. They can build up to ten nests before trying to lure a female to accept one of them as a future home. If she does, they will work together to complete the nest and bring up their young.
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