Friday, August 11, 2006

A new batch of baby birds!

There's a new batch of young birds arriving at the feeder lately!

This adorable little guy is a baby Song Sparrow - you can still see some of his gray baby down sticking up through his new feathers - the old down will fall out eventually! His tail is very short still, he must still be growing out his full adult tail feathers. :)


These cute little guys are baby grey Juncoes - you can tell, because they have the same tails as adults, but they are brown speckled. I think I'm getting the hang of this birdwatching thing - I guessed because they were so speckled and brown that their nests must be built on the ground - this way the birds are camouflaged (and I looked it up, and I was right!) :D These two make these little trilling cheeps trying to get mom's attention - they can feed themselves, but if she's nearby, they will cheep at her and flap their wings to get her to feed them! Old habits die hard. :D (and she does feed them, too!)


And this sweet little doughboy in the centre is a baby American Goldfinch - you can see an adult male from the same species to his left (and the baby song sparrow on the right). He also can feed himself, but whenever the male comes close, he starts to flap his wings and cheep, hoping he'll feed him!! He can tell that he's the same species, but not that he's a boy! :D The adult male just flies away from him, with a "what are you doing, I'm not your mother!" sort of look! :D Very funny to watch! He's very cute, still full of a lot of baby down, that fluffs off him occasionally. I wasn't able to get a clear shot of his head, but it's especially downy-looking.

And the Nuthatches have come back from wherever it is that they spend the summer - welcome back little guys!