The cup of the nest is constructed of coarse grass, twigs, pine needles, rootlets, and straw and is lined with moss, feathers, wool, and fresh leaves. These leaves are replaced frequently and are believed to function as a natural insecticide or bactericide. The first eggs are laid around mid-March. Females lay one egg per day, and the average clutch contains four to seven eggs. Males continue to guard females during this period.
Females begin to partially incubate the clutch after the first egg is laid.
With each subsequent egg, females increase the amount of time they spend incubating. Both sexes share incubation duties. Females and, to a lesser extent, males brood the nestlings for about a week. Nestlings are fed soft-bodied invertebrates immediately upon hatching, but as they grow older, they are fed a larger variety of foods. Both adults remove fecal sacs from the nest at first, but this behavior eventually ceases, and the nest quickly becomes soiled.