LOL I saw that show.  They do indeed nest in "colonies".

I was very fortunate in that I only had a small nest in my apartment attic.
I became known as the 'bird lady' of the apartment complex for a couple of
years for different types of birds.

The first year I moved in, I was in my bedroom reading when a bird came
zooming through, then back out.  I had parakeets at the time and I said to
myself, wait a minute, that wasn't a parakeet!  Went into the living room
and found a sparrow sitting on a silk plant way up high.  I opened the back
door and managed to shooo it outside.  Still no idea how it got in.

When spring came, I had a wreath on my front door.  Just decorative, you
know.  I'd come home from work and find "fluff" in the wreath, so I'd pull
it out.  Come back the next day, the "fluff" was there again.  And now
twigs.  It was a nest!  Oddly enough, the wreath is one that has little
wooden birdhouses on it and the legend, "Home is where you build your nest".
Apparently this Carolina wren could read.  It build a nest and laid eggs.  I
was careful to exit by the back door so as not to disturb the mother bird,
but the front door is glass and she could see me approaching the kitchen
even through the closed blinds so she'd fly away.  It appeared a week or so
later she abandoned the nest and the eggs were gone.  A squirrel or lizard
got to them.  The same thing happened next year, although I was always
careful not to disturb the nesting mom or her birds.

A year or so later I heard this clamour in my hallway.  WTF?  CHEEEP CHEEEP
CHEEEP!!! I opened the door to the utility closet (where the heating unit
is) and out hopped this fledgling starling.  It had fallen through a hole in
the attic where the insulation takes the heating pipe up to vent.  It hopped
right over to me and up onto my hand.  Remember that children's book, "Are
you my mommy?"  It was like that!

I tried to put it outside.  I could hear the mother screeching for it.  But,
as with Persia, it was a very stormy day and was getting nasty with rain.  I
set it outside for its mom to get it and it fluttered onto my back door
window panes and CRIED.  I am such a sucker.  I couldn't just leave it out
there in the rain clinging to the glass pane on the door!

Having had birds all my life I had a small cage so I prepared it with some
cotton "fluff" and brought in the bird (who was happy as hell to get inside
from the storm).  It could perch and flutter, fairly big bird... just
couldn't fly well yet.  I fed it bread dipped in milk and I found a can of
dog food and gave it bits of that.  The bird ate from my finger and just
about took it off while eating (greedy little thing!).  But just as fast it
would tuck its head back and sleep.  It was a baby.  Then it would wake up
screaming to be fed.  Baby birds eat and sleep a LOT and often, in case you
didn't know.

Anyway, long story short, I let this bird go the next afternoon in a bush
behind my apartment... with a bunch of moist bread, a shallow bowl of water
and hoping its mom was still looking for it.  I could still hear her calling
for it so I think she probably found the fledgling.

I also called the apartment office and had them seal off my attic.  I am no
longer in possession of drop-into-your-apartment birds, although I wouldn't
mind a nest on the OUTSIDE.  In fact, I feed them and encourage nesting
around here.

Jill