Hi Stuart, The bird looks pretty good to me. I see good details in the bird and like the near wing position. I agree that the nesting material is a plus. A lower or higher angle of capture might have provided a more uniform background. As presented, it might be worth trying blurring the some to see if that helps the bird stand out a bit more if your ethic allow. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, the bird lining up with the BG line is a bit unfortunate. The bird itself is great, love the stick. I'll bet that the upper BG can be tweaked to set the bird off more.