So, what do these birds do at night, especially on cold, blustery nights that don’t seem fit for man or beast? The nest of a House Finch is usually built by the female bird. House sparrows are highly social birds that return repeatedly to the same hierarchically-organized flock in order to forage and roost. The nest of a House Finch is a simple thing. From August into September, you’re likely to see them massed together, looking especially scruffy as they go through their post-breeding molt. More so, House Finches have no qualms about using their own nests repeatedly for several breeding seasons. In late May/2008, some house finches nested in my rain gutter so I installed a webcam and got some nifty pictures/video of it. Almost all small birds use the same nesting site, but build a new nest every year. Reusing also has much to do with the nesting spot. Unless your nest is made out of large branches (like raptor and heron nests), it's not durable enough to last more than one season. The house finch may be infected by a number of parasites including Plasmodium relictum and Mycoplasma gallisepticum, which caused the population of house finches in eastern North America to crash during the 1990s. House Finches Nest again in 2010 The House Finches came back yet again in 2011 and built their nest in the same wreath - nifty pics/video here! Banding studies show House Finches may live to be over 11 years old in the wild. This isn’t absolutely necessary; often birds will clean it out themselves, but you can lend them a helping hand. House finches are early nesters, beginning in March in most of the country. As mentioned earlier, during hard times or perhaps merely due to preference, some House Finches re-use the old nests of other birds. Some birds reuse nests because of the comfort of the nesting spot. Both male and female House Finch display a strong tendency to return to the same area to breed, often occupying the same nest site as the previous year. Building a new nest in a new location also means predators are less likely to find the nest site before the young birds fledge. The mite Pellonyssus reedi is often found on house finch nestlings, particularly for nests later in the season. New York pet shop owners, who had been selling the finches illegally, released their birds in 1940 to escape prosecution; the finches survived, and began to colonize the New York suburbs. However, for nest boxes or birdhouses, NestWatch suggests cleaning out the box at the end of the season. Even birds like hummingbirds reuse the same nest year after year. Other birds migrate into an area for the winter, often coming from the sub-arctic regions of Alaska and Canada. Photo by lindapp57 via Birdshare . House finches have also been known to build their nests in conifer trees, hanging planters and even in the old nests of other birds. These migrant and resident birds are the ones you regularly see at your bird feeders each day through the winter. 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