in article , Malcolm at
wrote on 25/1/03 7:29 pm:


In article , sacha
writes
snip
And why our rookery is practically empty during parts
of the summer and then they all come home again......fascinating, really.

Once the young have left the nest, they are taken by their parents out
into the countryside looking for sources of food, staying as a family
group within a larger flock. The young are fed by their parents for
about six weeks or so. Once they have become independent, the parents
are free to come back to the rookery, which they usually do in
September-October, occasionally earlier, and from then on take a natural
interest in it (sometimes sporadic depending on the weather) until
nest-building starts in earnest in the early spring.

Thank you! We've seen signs of them starting to build now but I imagine
it's not serious construction work yet. The sparrows are certainly nest
building, though. I was fascinated to learn about the rooks that the reason
one sees them flying in pairs to pick up twigs but only one of them coming
back with a stick, is that the unencumbered one is the male riding 'shotgun'
to prevent 'his woman' from mating with another!
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk