Excavator: Ground.. R.C.L. Perkins (1919g) describes the species as sometimes forming compact nesting aggregations of considerable extent, but these seem to be rarely found nowadays.The species usually creates small nesting aggregations in sparsely vegetated deciduous woodland (Edwards and Telfer 2002
In continental Europe the species is reported to nest solitarily ( Kocourek 1966; Dylewska, 1987; Westrich, 1987).