[TN-Bird] Fledglings & other yard birds

From: "Carole Gobert" <cpgobert@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 13:26:22 -0400
My yard also has fledglings of many species, including Northern Mockingbird, 
American Robin, House Finch, Red-bellied Woodpecker, Northern Cardinal, 
Mourning Dove, Downy Woodpecker, Carolina Chickadee, Carolina Wren and 
Eastern Bluebird.

This weekend I saw at the edge of my yard two Mourning Doves engaged in 
vigorous activity.  Were they fighting?  Mating?  I grabbed my binoculars 
and decided that it was a mother feeding a fledgling by apparently trying to 
swallow it whole.  Okay, that?s a slight exaggeration, but the process did 
appear quite violent involving up and down and sideways head thrashing.  
I?ve read that the mother feeds her young by regurgitation (the baby sticks 
its head in her mouth).  I?d never seen this before. The young one was 
noticeably smaller and darker than the adult.  That was 2 days ago; haven?t 
seen the youngster since.

Male Eastern Bluebird is still feeding 2 or 3 young that fledged May 2, but 
they have started coming to the fruit & nut mixture that I have out in a 
tube feeder and have been seen feeding themselves from it.  This mixture is 
very popular among the grackles also. Yesterday I observed the male bluebird 
and a fledgling on my patio.  The fledgling had a worm and was bashing it up 
and down on the concrete.  After watching for a minute or so, Dad hopped 
over, took the worm from Junior, bashed it a couple of times himself and 
then swallowed it.  Role reversal.  Of course, it?s possible that Dad 
originally gave Junior the worm, got tired of watching his offspring trying 
to figure out what to do with it and thought he?s show him by example.  The 
female Eastern Bluebird is busy incubating 5 eggs in a different nest box 
than the one used for the first brood.  The young from the first brood often 
come to visit her, perching on top of the box or peering in.

There are two young downy woodpeckers, I believe,  The male is easy to ID 
but the female I have assumed is a fledgling based on her behavior.  I have 
a suet hanging from a shepherd?s hook.  She repeatedly tried to grasp the 
pole sideways but kept sliding down, unable to stop herself.  It was pretty 
entertaining to watch.  She eventually figured out how to just fly to the 
basket.

I?ve had whole little families of Carolina Wrens and Carolina Chickadees.  A 
week or two ago I was standing at the edge of a small wooded lot at the end 
of my yard, trying to listen for what sounded like a wood thrush in the 
distance (but being drowned out by a loud Carolina Wren) and suddenly I was 
surrounded by Carolina Wrens.  I assume that this was a family group as the 
most I have ever seen in the yard before was two.

The most numerous of the fledglings, unfortunately, are the starlings. The 
fledglings are even more annoying than the adults.  What a racket they make! 
  If I took the suet in, they?d go away but every time I see the woodpeckers 
& bluebirds looking for it, I relent and fill the basket again.

I?ve also been watching a chipmunk that gets under the feeder or grabs one 
of the peanuts I put out for the bluejays, runs across the sidewalk with it 
and disappears down its tunnel, only to emerge a few seconds later and 
repeat the process.  Either it?s got a family down there that it?s feeding 
or it?s storing food to eat at its leisure later.

All in all, this is a great time of year to just sit on the deck and watch 
the show.  Yesterday the show included a low flying great blue heron flanked 
by a few smaller birds... a new yard bird.

Carole Gobert
west Knox County, Tennessee


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[TN-Bird] Fledglings & other yard birds

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