Mama bird on deck

[Lydia Deetz]

So it’s pretty common for a bird to build a nest in the birdhouse that used to hang on my back deck a certain time of year. Said birdhouse is on the ground on the deck but lately every time I step into the deck at night to let the dogs pee before I crate them, a bird starts flying around the spot spastically. I live in Georgia and this bird has only been seen at night. It’s hard to determine what it looks like since I’ve hardly ever seen it sitting still but it’s about the size of a cardinal and has gray and black and maybe some white. I thought at first it was a titmouse but it’s head is too dark and there’s no tuft. My two main questions are what species could it possibly be, and how can I be able to access my back deck for functional reasons without putting her in distress?

 

[TinyFeathers]

 

[ChromeScholar]

Check this site.

Birds of North America - Whatbird.com

It is great for helping you nail down species. Just click on the boxes and make choices. It can generally get you down to a few possibilities just using location, shape, size, primary and secondary colors, and bill shape and size.

 

[Fergus Mom]

@Lydia Deetz Could it be one of the little house wrens? I believe it was a wren or finch that flew into my house when I opened the door a couple of years ago. I believe he/she was roosting in the grapevine wreath I used to have on my back door.

 

[Lydia Deetz]

@Lydia Deetz Could it be one of the little house wrens? I believe it was a wren or finch that flew into my house when I opened the door a couple of years ago. I believe he/she was roosting in the grapevine wreath I used to have on my back door.

I don’t think so. If I was better with uploading and could actually get a good picture of her, I’d post one but the only one I have is cruddy, so I’ll try to describe as best I can. The primary body color is gray with a white underbelly sort of like a titmouse. The head is black but there’s a sort of white collar connecting to the underbelly. Think about the exact color and pattern of that one lovebird Kiwi’s “goth gf” but the size of a cardinal and the shape of a typical songbird

 

[Fergus Mom]

@Lydia Deetz See what you think about the photo of the chickadee here.... I wonder if it could be a black-capped chickadee?
Field Guide/Birds/Eastern US and Canada - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

"Adults have a black cap and bib with white sides to the face. Their underparts are white with rusty brown on the flanks; their back is grey. They have a short dark bill,short wings and a moderately long tail. There are two types of Chickadee; the Carolina Chickadee, and the Black-capped Chickadee."

 

[Lydia Deetz]

@Lydia Deetz See what you think about the photo of the chickadee here.... I wonder if it could be a black-capped chickadee?
Field Guide/Birds/Eastern US and Canada - Wikibooks, open books for an open world

"Adults have a black cap and bib with white sides to the face. Their underparts are white with rusty brown on the flanks; their back is grey. They have a short dark bill,short wings and a moderately long tail. There are two types of Chickadee; the Carolina Chickadee, and the Black-capped Chickadee."

That was my initial thought, but the problem with that is the chickadees in my neighborhood are tiny and this bird was not. I often go into the Woods with seeds and bird calls but I have yet to see a bird quite like this. The closest I’ve seen in my research is maybe an eastern phoebe or kingbird, but I’m not sure