Our feathered friends, birdbrains, and wingnuts

[Rose White]

New mama has been named Fig. And she is such a trooper! We have been having hard storms several times a week. It’s amazing to see her on her nest which is swinging around like a pendulum in the wind and she’s gripping like a bull rider, head hunkered down, getting dowsed with rain. Warrior mom.

 

[Rose White]

One baby hummingbird hatched! It had half an eggshell on it. And it looks like a rat turd to my naked eyes. Only the camera helps me see the huge eye balls and tiny pink triangle beak pointing to the top left corner. Amazing how huge the eyes are compared to the body now. And the few little feathers on the back

 

[Rose White]

Baby #2 hatched two days after baby #1 (which was two days ago). Interesting they follow the same pattern as the first clutch like clockwork.

 

[Rose White]

Idk why the open eye on big baby (named Sunshize) reminds me of a whale’s eye. They are too too too cute

 

[Rose White]

A couple days before big sibling fledged ‍
Little sibling still in the nest. Went through a giant storm yesterday where lightning crashed on the apartments next to ours starting a fire! Daughter said little sibling was trembling! Mama stayed nearby in the tree the whole time while the wind was whipping everything and rain dumping.

 

[Rose White]

First baby hummer of the year. Only one egg made it this time, the other one cracked after about a week, dried out and collapsed. She slowly removed all the pieces. She built a new nest, not too far from the previous one, same height, about four feet from the ground. Naming this chick Niblet.

 

[user27357]

so early, by 45th parallel standards. We are seeing maybe a half of our summertime roster of finch varieties, and the winter over doves and such. lots of nuthatches and some robins but not a single hummingbird yet. Patience.
I did find a better source for wild bird seed, 23 bucks for a fifty pound bag of commercial mix as opposed to 18 bucks for 20 lb. of hardware store mix that has sand in it! They need grit, yes, but it is available from other sources……
Laid in 500 pounds of seed last week, catching wow dads from the offspring for it

 

[Rose White]

Those eyes!

 

[Rose White]

That last nest with the singleton ended tragically. Then a nest was built high in the tree where we could watch from the bedroom window. That was successful. Now someone rehabbed the nest that had the singleton and is giving it a go.

It’s so interesting how with watching birds you begin to see different personalities and physicalities. “Oh it’s not the same one because the last one was short and chubby and not very careful, this one is long and tall and seems like she knows what she’s doing. The first one built the coziest nest, this one slapped a few flowers together and called it a day.” And so on

 

[Deleted member 57157]

Hi all.

I was wondering if there are others here who enjoy watching birds, feeding them, and sharing about it?

I have been taking care of the birds in the garden for few years now. There are doves (and for two of them I had to call "Dove Rescue" for), blue tits, blackbirds, robins, and others. I was once lucky enough to help a blackbird who wasn't able to fly at the time; I fed her and put a big bird bath outside for her to clean herself. After a few days and cleaning herself thoroughly, she get better and flew away. I think she remembered me; she returned the next winter, was never scared, let me come close, and seemed to enjoy me whispering to her. I haven't seen her in a while, but this morning, she was back. My first Christmas present this year!

What experiences have you made with wild birds?

 

[In the weeds]

Right now I get visited every day by a long tailed grackle that we saved a few years ago. He had a broken leg and I kept him calm till the rescue people got here. They looked at him and said they would fix his leg and hydrate him and release him back to his flock in a couple weeks. There are so many around here that I thought I'd never know when he came back. Someone said that he would remember us. He did. He comes and sits on my stool for a few minutes every day. He's my profile pic.

 

[Sideways]

Mod Note:
@Charlee - merged your post with the existing (and very cool!) thread for bird fans!

Any questions about that, just hit us up at Contact.