Tag: Platanus wrightii

Verdin nest.

I’ve been observing a pair of verdins (Auriparus flaviceps) in the Arizona sycamore tree outside my apartment. They actually maintain two structures in the tree: the compact spherical nest in these photos, and a smaller roost higher up in the branches. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the male does most of the twig construction, while the female verdin makes the nest interior soft and cozy. 

The verdin population has been in steep decline, falling 60% since around 1970. Habitat loss is the sole cause of this change in numbers, and the birds are either rare or fully extirpated in parts of their former range, especially in southern California. We have done this. Will we ever learn?