Re: juncos nesting on man-made structures

Re: juncos nesting on man-made structures
By – 9:52 am
On March 18th, for the first time I observed a Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon race) in my yard in Olivenhain off Manchester. It was a singing male and I soon discovered there were a pair. I was curious where they would nest. Since I am adjacent to a strip mall (Harvest Ranch), I thought they might nest on top of the mall.Today (4/25) I discovered the nest. Both members of the pair are regularly disappearing into the rain gutter of my neighbor’s garage. The rain gutter is covered with pine needles which have slid down from the roof, and the juncos duck into the rain gutter in a gap between the pine needles, so the nest is covered from above. It is also under the shade of trees, in which the male frequently sings. Phil mentioned last year that the juncos were not seen so much in suburban neighborhoods with single story buildings yet, but perhaps this is an indication that that trend is beginning.For years I have regularly seen juncos in the summer at the Qualcomm Morehouse campus where I work. I also regularly see them at my Mom’s house in the Pasadena area, but haven’t determined where they nest (the houses in the area are two story).I thought this was an interesting observation, and was curious if there are other observations of juncos using rain gutters for nesting.Best regards,Jim