Evy

Every evening when we walk out on our deck a little brown bird perches on a piece of wood at the steps landing. The photos are not clear, I was never able to get one of the front of him but he's mostly brown, a little lighter on the chest and almost constantly flicks his tail up and down. I have these four photos and as I reviewed them emlarged I can't help but think the last two photos are of a different bird entirely. Under the deck there are nests made mostly of dirt with kind of cone shaped openings. The larger bird in the top two photos is the one that interest me the most.

thimblebug6000

I wonder if it is an Eastern Kingbird. Try googling that and their nests to see if they are similar to yours.

lynnie

is it an Eastern sparrow?

elnan

That tail jerk sounds like a wren. Leave a hat or a can on a post and they will nest in it.

A mud nest sounds like a swallow, barn swallow, brown swallow, etc.

cuttinghorse

That may be an eastern phoebe

ctyankee

How big is this bird? It's very pretty. I checked my field guide for Connecticut Birds & it's not an Eastern Kingbird or a sparrow, but it does look similar to a Belted Kingfisher. Since you're in Kentucky, it may be a different type of Kingfisher bird. Hope that helps somewhat.

Evy

The top one is smaller than a robin or bluejay but bigger than a sparrow. The smaller one is probably a sparrow. It's pretty small. I googled and checked a bird book that I have and think the top one may be an Eastern Phoebe. I just know we really enjoy watching them. The more I look at the smaller bird, the more comical he appears. I'll have to watch for him since he doesn't show up as often as the bigger one. Thanks everyone.

ManiacQuilter2

I had something similar that I would whistle to and he would sing to me on my window awning in the morning. Missing him since I moved.

chance

Eastern Phoebe (flycatcher). I have a pair nesting in my eaves. Had babies and I think they are planning on their second batch of little ones. They twitch their tail quite while perched.

ptquilts

My thoughts exactly. Except replace "may be" with "is"!! They nested around our house every year we were there. They were as familiar to me as the back of my hand.

They are great to have around as they eat a lot of bugs. They like to nest in a protected site but not in a nest box. I put up platforms for them under the eaves and they used them every year.