Western Kingbird Fledglings all photos by Larry Jordan
A fellow local birder led me to this Catalpa tree on the Shasta College campus where she spotted a Western Kingbird nest. I discovered the parents and four fledglings in the tree a couple of days later. Note the orange color of the bill where the mandibles meet (commissural point) below this fledgling’s eye. Remnants of the nestlings yellow-orange bill. Their tails are also shorter than the adult’s (see below).
Western Kingbird young leave the nest at around day 16, taking short flights to nearby branches. They will perch and roost together for several days as the parents feed and watch over them for two or three weeks. Here is a shot of one of the adults eyeballing me taking picutres.
The adult Western Kingbird vigorously defends its territory around the nest site from other songbirds and predators and will mob raptors flying nearby or perching in their territory.
I was hoping to capture the adults feeding the young but in the brief time I had to watch this family, I didn’t see any feeding activity. I will go back in the next couple of days to try again. I did take a picture of the nest however.
This pair of Western Kingbirds has had a successful breeding of four young and will hopefully return next year to breed again in this location.
Flycatchers are one of my most favorite birds to watch as they hawk insects in mid-air against the blue morning sky. For more great sky photos, check out Skywatch Friday!
American Crow Eating On A Bone photo by Larry Jordan
The American Crow is a member of the Corvidae family, commonly refered to as Corvids or Crows. This family of birds includes crows, ravens, jays, magpies, nutcrackers, rooks, jackdaws, treepies and choughs. They are considered to be the most intellegent birds in the world.
I was listening to NPR on the way to work this morning and was astonished by a story about crows and how they can recognized individual humans. Robert Krulwich, science correspondent for NPR, interviewed Professor Kevin McGowan from Cornell University and Professor John Marzluff from the University of Washington, both experts on crow behavior. Here is a short video about the experiment. I suggest you take the 7 1/2 minutes to go to this link to hear the entire interview. It is a great listen.
You want more proof of the crows intelligence? Watch this video showing crows using tools.
My suggestion, if you go out to band crows, wear a mask, unless you want to be haunted by crows for the rest of your life.
If you don’t know about the Nature Blog Network, I don’t know where you’ve been. If you are looking for the best blogs on the internet about birds, bugs, plants, reptiles, amphibians, oceans, ecosystems, hiking or anything else dealing with the natural world around us, or you blog about these things yourself, the Nature Blog Network is where you want to be.
This network of bloggers was yet another brain child of Mike Bergin (of "10000 Birds" and "I And The Bird" fame) who has raised the awareness of birders and nature lovers all over the world. He is joined by three other excellent bloggers, Wren of Wrenaissance Reflections, N8 of The Drinking Bird and Seabrooke of The Marvelous in Nature, as the Team whos knowledge and blogging skills make the Nature Blog Network THE network to be a member of.
So, why am I clueing you in to this awesome network? Every Monday, someone’s blog is chosen to be the "Featured Blog" on Nature Blog Network. I have been honored by an invitation to have my blog be the "Featured Blog" next Monday, August 3rd! Yup, you can read my ideas about blogging and birds and nature by checking out this weeks "Featured Blog" on the Nature Blog Network. Stop by and find some great blogs to explore and feel free to leave a comment for me. I am always interested in what’s on your mind.
Pied-billed Grebe Pair Buiding A Platform Nest photos by Larry Jordan
The Pied-billed Grebe has the widest distribution of any grebe in the Americas and I found this pair at Lema Ranch. They had just begun building this platform nest a few weeks ago, around the first of July. I watched as they brought plant material up from the lake bottom and added on to the nest, bit by bit. Both the male and the female were building. I think the dragonfly was just observing.
After thirty to forty minutes spent building this nest, the female decided to try it out for size. Pied-billed Grebes will build a nest ready for eggs in as little as a day. Normally however, they will start building 3 to 5 days before egg laying begins. They will also add to the nest during and after laying as you will see in the more recent nest photos below.
The following photos were taken three weeks later when the pair seemed to be discussing who should be watching the nest. Both Pied-billed Grebe parents incubate the eggs equally during the day, or sometimes not at all.
Hey what are you doing …
it’s your turn to watch the nest …
ok, I’ll watch it, you go get something to eat.
Note that the nest now has additional plant material that the pair use to cover the eggs during the day when they are not incubating. This day I observed them, they did not incubate while I was there.
Incubation lasts from 3 to 4 weeks so we should be able to see some hatching in the next week or two. I am looking forward to seeing the young grebes and watching them as they grow. To see more great bid photos, check out Bird Photography Weekly!
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