By Linda Lutz, Evanston Ecology Center Coordinator

Your children and, for that matter, you yourself, may find watching the nest-building cycle of Evanston's bird life fascinating.

It's not hard to do in Evanston since the city plays host to over 40 varieties of nesting birds each spring.

The reason for the town's popularity is, of course, its trees. To the eye of a migrating bird (or from an airplane) Evanston looks almost like a forest preserve.

Nest builders that make their home in our city range from common houses sparrows to more exotic species like the Northern Oriole.

A knowledge of nesting habits, a pair of binoculars, a telephoto lens, or possibly a viewing stick consisting of a pole with a small mirror mounted on the end to permit looking into overhead nests, are helpful equipment.

Watching a nest and its inhabitants grow can be very exciting. Incubation of the eggs takes about two weeks. You can use binoculars to view the progress, or even make a viewing stick by placing a small mirror on the end of a stick or bamboo pole.

If you find a hatchling that's fallen out of the nest, the best thing to do is put it back in the nest. Weak, sick, or diseased baby birds may be pushed out of the nest by siblings or parents. Contrary to popular belief, mother birds won't abandon a nest due to your involvement.

Best Places to See Unusual Nesting Birds in Town:

Nesting styles vary widely and although some may appear to be haphazard and precarious, on closer look you'll see that there is always a method to their madness.

Nests, generally used just one year, must be secure enough to withstand the young birds' early life from the egg-laying period through the time when the young fledglings are ready to fend for themselves. Birds tend to be opportunists using a wide variety of materials that surround the nesting environment.

Often times songbirds will raise several broods during the spring-summer season. Sometimes a quality nest matters, with the robin's solid mud-lined nests; other times the base of a tuft of grass, like the song sparrow uses, serve as an adequate nest.

The robin, our common brown and orange thrush, characteristically uses mud and mortar to hold a collection of small twigs and grasses together for its three to four greenish-blue eggs. Robins nest in the crotches of trees, but may be found in gutters, behind window shutters, and other opportune places.

The nest that you find in your unused porch light, rafter, or hanging flower basket may be that of a house finch, a purplish sparrow, that has adapted easily to the civilized environment. House finch eggs are light blue dotted with black. House sparrows, our common brown resident with a black patch under the chin, nests in similar places, but has whitish green eggs dotted with black.

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