Black-throated Blue Warbler Nest Building
While out on our big 110 bird day we came across this female Black-throated Blue Warbler doing some nest building. I knew we would be coming back to this same location; so I set up my digital camera. I took the video in lower quality so that I could get about 22 minutes of the female doing continuous nest building. I edited the clip down to the best minute with her completely focused on making the nest perfect.
This area had Yellow-throated Vireos, Cerulean Warblers, Winter Wrens, Wood Thrush, American Redstarts, Hooded Warblers, Black-throated Green Warblers and of course the Black-throated Blue Warbler singing. Was a perfect location to start our big day and we found so many wonderful birds doing nest building (including the Cerulean Warblers and American Redstarts). They were all too high to get any clips and of course I now know that I need to get some more memory disc space for cases like this.
As posted above the males and females look entirely different. This is so that the female is more camouflage while sitting. She built the nest in a small tree or saplings fork around 1-3 feet from the ground. The literature states that it is a fairly bulky cup and built with bark strips, moss, dead leaves and rotten wood fragments. Everything is put together with spiders’ webs and lined with hair and hair-like rootlets. The female is the only one to brood the eggs and once the nestlings hatch, the young are then tended by both of the parents.
Mon@rch's Nature Blog 
You sure know how to get close-up to the private world of birds om.
22 May 2007 at 10:46 pm
Thanks Larry, since I was doing this in lower quality, I probably should have had the camera closer! I didn’t really put much effort into recording it since we were in the middle of the big day! But, that’s how I like to learn about the birds, up close and personal with them!
22 May 2007 at 11:07 pm
That is so wonderful, Tom. I really love it. Just a quiet moment in the life of a bird. Fantastic.
23 May 2007 at 12:05 am
The video was so peaceful. They way you observe birds is a delight and I’m glad you share it so generously.
23 May 2007 at 10:42 am
Awesome! That is one cool video! Not a very common bird in N. Illinois; capturing nest building is a real treat.
23 May 2007 at 10:54 am
That is so lovely to watch. I’m impressed with the quality of the video. You really capture her efforts so beautifully. The sound is good too. Great job.
I have a few pics of warblers up at Dharma Bums. There’s one I can’t identify. Maybe you could take a look? It’s the third pic, the little one in the pond with the orange-crown. I thought it had to be an orange-crowned warbler, but all descriptions I’ve read don’t mention an orange crown!
23 May 2007 at 11:42 am
What a delight~ I’m so glad you shared this with your fans, Tom. Most of us will never have an opportunity to witness this lovely event. Thanks.
23 May 2007 at 4:49 pm
Love the video Tom, and I love hearing the singing birds in the background, too!
23 May 2007 at 8:38 pm
@ Liz, thanks
@ Mary, wish I could be out doing more video’s like this!
@ Birdfreak, thanks and thanks for the post you did!
@ Robin thanks and just put the camera in the right spot! I commented on your blog regarding the warbler!
@ Cathy – thanks and will try to get some more shots like this!
@ Pam – thanks and it was fun watching the whole 22 min’s of it!
23 May 2007 at 8:44 pm
I had no idea that they nested so close to the ground – what is that – a half-meter up? Very cool video – thanks for sharing.
24 May 2007 at 2:07 pm
Nice video, enjoyable site. I’ll be back.
Vern
25 May 2007 at 12:08 pm
In addition to posting a fantastic video, you’ve solved a mystery bird for me. I saw what I now see was a female Black-throated Blue Warbler bathing in a nearby creek a few weeks back and was stymied. Thanks!
25 May 2007 at 6:24 pm
This is my first visit to your site. Lovely! I’m quite impressed with your video. It is so clear compared to what I take with my digital camera and upload via google for my blog.
Just wondering what you used to take the video???
Beautiful work here!
– Barb
4 June 2007 at 8:08 pm
@ Marty – they sure do and needs understory for sure!
@ Vern – thanks
@ Iris – so glad I helped with the mystery bird!
@ Barb Dun – This was low quality and you should see some of my other clips! My suggestion is switching over to http://blip.tv website for your videos! They do a much better job! To see more of my video’s, use my video tag https://monarchbfly.com/tag/video/
4 June 2007 at 11:13 pm