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I Need Help Identifying a Strange Object in My Bird House.

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drj3 Forum Pro • Posts: 12,619
I Need Help Identifying a Strange Object in My Bird House.
1

I was cleaning bird houses for the spring when I tried to open one that was not used last summer. The door would not open and I had to use a pry bar to open it.

The door was tied to the walls with fibers like those shown in the first image. The center of the area looked like what you might find in a mouse nest, but it was very strongly tied together with the fibers.

One side of the nest was covered with what looked like one inch thick pad of fiber insulation. It was attached to the wood with very strong white webbing. Again I needed a pry bar to remove it from the wood. The side of this material that was attached to the wood is shown in the second image.

There appear to be parts of black insects mixed in, but no full insects or way to know if these were the residents or food for the residents.

Any help with identification would by appreciated. Located in Northern New Jersey, USA.

I posted this on another forum where it was suggested that it might be some type of ant and it was suggested I post it on this forum for possibly more information.

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drj3

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meow
meow Veteran Member • Posts: 5,751
Re: I Need Help Identifying a Strange Object in My Bird House.

Haven't seen on exactly like that, but I still guess it's a spider nest.

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BBbuilder467 Veteran Member • Posts: 7,057
Re: I Need Help Identifying a Strange Object in My Bird House.

drj3 wrote:

I was cleaning bird houses for the spring when I tried to open one that was not used last summer. The door would not open and I had to use a pry bar to open it.

The door was tied to the walls with fibers like those shown in the first image. The center of the area looked like what you might find in a mouse nest, but it was very strongly tied together with the fibers.

One side of the nest was covered with what looked like one inch thick pad of fiber insulation. It was attached to the wood with very strong white webbing. Again I needed a pry bar to remove it from the wood. The side of this material that was attached to the wood is shown in the second image.

There appear to be parts of black insects mixed in, but no full insects or way to know if these were the residents or food for the residents.

Any help with identification would by appreciated. Located in Northern New Jersey, USA.

I posted this on another forum where it was suggested that it might be some type of ant and it was suggested I post it on this forum for possibly more information.

What I was suggesting on the other forum is that ants create that sawdust when I've seen it in the Northeast US. They don't build the nest, but they chew up wood, paper or cardboard. We call them carpenter ants and can be big, black things.

macrouser
macrouser Senior Member • Posts: 3,979
Re: I Need Help Identifying a Strange Object in My Bird House.

The last image looks like a cluster of cocoons.  Some parasitic wasps make cocoons in a bunch like that but that is a bigger bunch than I have ever seen.   Moths make cocoons but I am not familiar with that shape cocoon.

I have tried to cut some cocoons open with a sharp pair of scissors.  I couldn't do it.

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