Feeding Behavior

Does much foraging by perching low and fluttering down to ground to catch insects, often hovering to pick up items rather than landing. Also catches some insects in mid-air, and may take some while hovering among foliage. Feeds on berries by perching or making short hovering flights in trees.

Eggs

4-5, sometimes 3-7. Pale blue, unmarked; sometimes white. Incubation is mostly by female, about 13-16 days. Young: Both parents bring food to the nestlings, and young from a previous brood also help to feed them in some cases. Young leave the nest at about 18-19 days on average. 2 broods per year, sometimes 3.

Young

Both parents bring food to the nestlings, and young from a previous brood also help to feed them in some cases. Young leave the nest at about 18-19 days on average. 2 broods per year, sometimes 3.

Diet

Mostly insects and berries. Feeds on a wide variety of insects, including crickets, grasshoppers, beetles, and many others; also spiders, earthworms, snails, rarely small lizards or tree frogs. Also eats many berries, especially in winter.

Nesting

As a courtship display, male may sing and flutter in front of the female with his wings and tail partly spread. While perched close together, pairs may preen each other's feathers; male may feed female. Nest: Placed in cavity, typically in natural hollow in tree, in old woodpecker hole, or in birdhouse. Usually nests fairly low (2-20' above the ground), occasionally up to 50'. Nest in cavity (built mostly by female) is a loosely constructed cup of weeds, twigs, and dry grass, lined with finer grass, sometimes with animal hair or feathers.