Native to the Southwest, they are recent arrivals in the East. Birds do this by adding more materials on top each year with the older materials forming a base. 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. Migratory birds, like this American Robin, may return to the same place year after year. 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 nest of a House Finch is a simple thing. So, what do these birds do at night, especially on cold, blustery nights that don’t seem fit for man or beast? Adaptable, colorful, and cheery-voiced, House Finches are common from coast to coast today, familiar visitors to backyard feeders. Other birds migrate into an area for the winter, often coming from the sub-arctic regions of Alaska and Canada. House sparrows are highly social birds that return repeatedly to the same hierarchically-organized flock in order to forage and roost. Photo by lindapp57 via Birdshare . 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. 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! Even birds like hummingbirds reuse the same nest year after year. From August into September, you’re likely to see them massed together, looking especially scruffy as they go through their post-breeding molt. Some birds reuse nests because of the comfort of the nesting spot. Building a new nest in a new location also means predators are less likely to find the nest site before the young birds fledge. House finches are early nesters, beginning in March in most of the country. 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. This isn’t absolutely necessary; often birds will clean it out themselves, but you can lend them a helping hand. 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. More so, House Finches have no qualms about using their own nests repeatedly for several breeding seasons. House finches build nests in a variety of sites, including ivy growing on buildings and trees, and man-made objects such as window ledges. Reusing also has much to do with the nesting spot. House finches have also been known to build their nests in conifer trees, hanging planters and even in the old nests of other birds. The mite Pellonyssus reedi is often found on house finch nestlings, particularly for nests later in the season. 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