As regular CFZ-watchers will know, for some time Corinna has been doing a column for Animals & Men and a regular segment on On The Track... particularly about out-of-place birds and rare vagrants. There seem to be more and more bird stories from all over the world hitting the news these days so, to make room for them all - and to give them all equal and worthy coverage - she has set up this new blog to cover all things feathery and Fortean.

Friday 6 March 2020

Video shows family of birds nesting in Leeds traffic light as chicks hatch during Storm Dennis

Eagle eyed nature lovers spotted the nest round the corner from Leeds University


A family of thrush have made their home in an unusual place causing a bit of a stir with those that have spotted them.

Rather than nesting in a hedgerow, bird box or tree, the family of six which includes four young chicks are nestled in front of an amber traffic light in Leeds.

Paul Wheatley, on Twitter as @LeedsBirder told LeedsLive he heard about the birds via social media.

He said: "I heard about their unusual nest, so I popped out on my lunch break and got some footage of them.

"The nest is in front of the amber light and when the lights change you can see the parent birds darting to and from the nest to feed their four young. Apparently it's not an uncommon place for them to nest and this pair have been spotted in other traffic lights around the city previously."

He added that it's quite unusual for Mistle thrush to have young so early in the year - the chicks have been born a month earlier than what's deemed normal.

When he tweeted the video out he said: "Early Mistle thrush nest on a traffic light in Leeds with 4 chicks that hatched during Storm Dennis. Stormcock indeed.

"But they weren’t sufficiently badass to nest in front of the red light."

S Wyman who Tweets as @humulushead also shared some images of the nest - with one image showing the chicks hungrily asking to be fed by one of the parent.


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