From finches to robins, it's not uncommon for birds to build their homes on your homes

Birds don't just look for trees and birdhouses when deciding where to build a nest, somechoose buildings houses in particular according to Homestretch naturalistBrian Keating.

Keating said he was recently visiting B.C.'sOkanaganwhere he observed a bird nesting on the side of his brother's home.

"For a number of years, he has had a tiny flycatcher called an Eastern phoebe nesting in various locations right on the building," he told listeners on Monday.

"It's a very small, grey bird which is delightfully polite, filling the air with a clear, sharp two-part song that sounds like "fee-bee", hence its name. The call lasts only about half a second, and is often repeated."

Before houses and other structures were an option for these birds, Keating said theynested on bare rock outcrops, andstill do occasionally.

"They breed in wooded areas, especially near water sources they seem to choose nest sites with kind of woody understory nearby, possibly to make the nest less visible," he said.

"They like to build the nests under overhangs or in a niche on the side of the building where the youngsters will be protected somewhat from the elements and maybe a little more safe from predators."

These nests can typically be found about two to three meters above the ground.

"But sometimes they nest very close to the ground. In fact, the last couple of years, my brother's phoebehas nested only about a metre off the ground, but still attached to the building," said Keating.

Phoebe populations are doing well, and have historically increased as human population increasesand more nesting sites are built for them.

Only the female in a mated pair of Phoebes builds a nest, usually using mud, moss and leaves. Building the nest can take up to two weeks.

"The nest I had a good look at with my binoculars the other day at my brother's place, it seemed to have some cobweb mixed in it, too, and some lichens. But they'll often use animal hair as well," said Keating.

Phoebe's aren't the only birds that nest on our homes and buildings.

"One that's common and is on my house right now is robins. I had a pair successfully fledgea family of four from my front deck and presently I've got two pairs," he said

Keating said he's even built a little ledge for the robins to nest on, and they return to it year after year.

"This year I had a very special guest arrive and nest in a totally unique location on my house. They built a nest in the basket of a synthetic flower wreaththat my wife put on our front door just at the end of of winter a few months ago," he said.

The special guest was a purple house finch, a relative newcomer to Alberta, according to Keating.

"It'sa delightful cheery bird with a magical call.They sing a long, jumbled warbling song composed of short notes that often end with an upward or downward slur, that lasts about threeseconds," he said. "They're beautiful. The males are abeautiful purple colour. The female looks look similar in a sense to a just a normal sparrow."

The males will sing throughout the year.

"Which makes them especially enjoyable during our winter in Calgary," said Keating.

House finches are the "new kids on the block"in Alberta, originally found only in the U.S. andMexico.

"In the 1940s a small number were imported to New York, in an attempt to sell them as caged birds called 'Hollywood finches.'The business venture failed, and the birds were released on Long Island," said Keating.

But, they quickly started breeding and now the populations have spread across almost all of the U.S. andsouthern Canada.

"The first Alberta birds were reported from the mountains in the 1960s, expanded to Calgary in the early 1970s, but significant populations did not develop until the late 1990s," he said. "Now these melodic singers are found throughout the city."

For more fascinating stories about Alberta's wildlife from naturalist Brian Keating, visit hiswebsiteand check out these stories:

• Where to see the bison roam in Alberta, according to naturalist Brian Keating

• The 'impossibly beautiful' courtship dance of black-necked stilts, explained

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