Most of you know that I’m an avid birdwatcher. I’ve documented 48 species in my yard! I’ve got a Backyard Birds gallery of pix, many aren’t so great, but it’s hard to photograph small birds from 15 feet away!
I’m also a member of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Great Backyard Bird Count, (please take just a moment to look at the numbers here!!) and Project Feederwatch. I’m such a nerd!
Anyway, yesterday and today I’ve observed some interesting behaviours in my feeding area. Yesterday I saw a pair of cardinals picking around on the ground beneath the feeders, which is not unusual. Then I noticed that the female was poofed out and flicking her wings. Upon closer inspection, I realised that this was not a female at all, but a fledgling out with dad for lunch! The fledgling (I believe it’s a male) was poofed up and flicking its wings/tail for FOOD. The daddy cardinal was opening up seeds and popping them into the baby’s open mouth! How cool is that!!
Today, I see a couple of finches on the feeder and one is flicking its wings and tail… Upon closer inspection, these two were a mommy and a fledgling. The baby was exhibiting the exact same behaviour as the young cardinal had! The mommy would get a seed, open it, and pop it into the baby’s open mouth!
How cool is that!!
EDIT: I just saw a robin with two babies doing the same thing!! The robin tells its babies to hide in the vinca while it hunts for tasty bits. Clearly this is something I’ve simply never noticed before. Wow! :-)
See, I don’t hate all babies – just the smelly human ones! ::evil grin::
I adore my wild birds, I really do. I can’t imagine having one caged up. It’s also worth noting that the wild birds are as spoiled rotten as my domestic cats. I put out a Nyger seed feeding sock yesterday for the finches. They snubbed it. I fussed about this most of the day, then I got the idea to put the seed into a copper feeder I have. Once I presented it properly, they are all over it. Now that’s some spoilt birds right there! LOL
I don’t mind that my various animals are spoiled rotten. They give me much happiness and that is a good thing!