Hi Brenda , the mystery bird could be about 8-9 inches but in a slim way not a chunky way. It really gave my bluebirds a working over too! LOL...It seems to have taken a liking to a particular part of my chainlink fence that happens to be close to the nestbox so this upsets the bluebirds. It wouldn't give in to the blues either it kept its ground. Which usually the blues run other birds away from their box but this pretty bird wont go. The way it twitters i thought maybe a swallow but it just doesnt look right and it does look like a king bird shape. You may be right about it being a kingbird because i looked at some pics of kingbirds to see if it could be and i really think you are right. But it says the kingbird we should have has a white belly and this one has a yellow belly. It also puffs its head feathers up when it gets upset so it looks like it has a fuzzy hat on. Its really cute and holds itself very straight and perches on the fence to see insects in the grass. Do you think it could be a western kingbird that got lost? I saw it flying with the group of sparrows that are here migrating so maybe it flew here with them. I didn't see it here all summer, just this past week when all the little different sparrows started showing up. What if it got with the wrong group of migrants? I think they go to south America dont they? Maybe mine can go to Florida and keep warm. I haven't seen it today but there has been a big gray hawk hanging around all day so i haven't seen many birds at all today. I dont blame them, its a big gray hawk that i thought was an owl at first but then i seen it was a hawk. So i guess that was my bird sighting today! LOL.... Thanks Brenda Bonnie

Unlike other birds, robins are extremely skilled worm hunters. After a robin couple built a nest in my backyard's apple tree this year, I wanted to move the nest to another yard, but I resisted, and so I watched the robins hunt and capture lots and lots of worms from my yard. Worm castings (pooh-pooh) is just about the best fertilizer there is, so I was sorry to see so many worms killed by the robin couple to feed their 2 young babies in the nest. Although I didn't remove the nest, I discouraged the robins from removing worms from my lawn whenever I saw them hunting, which I saw them doing all the time. I actually saved a few worms from the robins' mouths and hid the saved worms under soil in the veggie garden. You gotta hide the worms you save because the robin will return to the spot you stole the worm from him shortly after you leave the spot. I've never seen any other bird species that's as good at worm hunting than robins. I gotta wonder if they're the best? They seem to be the only bird species in my neighborhood to hunt worms. I've never seen any other bird around here capture a worm, which makes me think most of the other bird species don't hunt worms.

Here is a video of an olde guy in England and his Collared Doves. You can easily see the squared-off tails with all the white on them. For me, that's a good identifier for these birds. He has some things to say about them but I can't hear well enuf to know what it is. Just a guy and his bird friends . . . Now about the birds this olde guy has seen in his garden! I was out in the dahlias Saturday and frightened a Mountain Plover out of them! This garden is probably a mile from open water (unless you count some swimming pools ;o). It certainly isn't out in the open. There are not only houses and other buildings around but quite a few trees. I've never seen a plover in my gardens! Kildeer but not shorebirds. . . Aaannd! There is a family of hawks near this garden! Not too unusual but this is quite an urban setting and I can't identify the species. I've always thought of the most-likely hawks to be seen as being Sharp-shinned but these guys are smaller. Not as small as Merlins and with an Accipiter look to them . . . so, I'm kind of at a loss . . . (noisy critters, too :o)! Steve Here is a link that might be useful: A few facts about wild Doves,(Streptopelia Decaocto) UK

I know this message is older, but wow........what a fantastic nest! I found one this summer and it looked like yours. But it always had a larger hole in it. I'm assuming it was their main entrance. But after they were gone this fall, I went up to it and saw some fur in there. I'm thinking some mice were in there. haha Its looking quite ragged now, so I don't think they still live in there......but it was out in the open. I read up on the bare-faced hornet and it sounds like they all die off in late Fall, except for the queen, who hibernates under leaves or a fallen tree trunk, etc. I think at that time she already has fertilized eggs in her. So I don't think you'll have any left-over hornets......but you never know. I had a relative who brought one in the house in late Fall and a few hornets flew out of it. But from what I understand, they don't reuse their old nest, so if you don't mind, you could just leave it up as a birdhouse! Those hornets' nests are a real work of art.