Fledglings in Florissant

I've had a family of Robins in my backyard the last few weeks and it has been enjoyable watching the young practice their new voices, take clumsy short flights across the yard, make exaggerated pounces on real or imagined prey and watch the furious food begging that consists of rapid wing fluttering and high pitched peeps.

In fact, I have seen quite a bit of family activity in Florissant. Before we go any further, let's review some definitions related to nesting.

A nest with eggs is called a clutch. Some bird species, such as Mourning Doves, will have several clutches during the summer. A clutch is sometimes called a brood.

Chicks that have hatched and are in the nest are called nestlings.

Chicks that have left the nest, but have only moved to nearby branches or a ledge, are called branchers. This usually refers to Raptors (Birds of Prey).

Chicks that have completely left the nest and are able to fly on their own are known as fledglings. The act of leaving the nest is called fledging. Despite their new independence, the parents will still feed these young birds.

Chicks that hatch naked and helpless are altricial. Songbird young take an average of 12 days to grow and develop before they are capable of fledging.

Chicks that emerge feathered and are ready to move within hours of hatching are precocial. Ducklings are a good example of precocial young.

Back to the Florissant fledglings. A Mourning Dove built a nest on the ledge above the back door at Historic Florissant . I was able to monitor this nest from inside the entryway.

Chicks about 2 - 3 days after hatching.

How quickly they grow.

This bird flew after I took this picture.This may have been his first flight.

My father-in-law took this picture of an adult European Starling feeding its chick.

This is also the time of year when I receive many questions about young birds. It has been my observation that newly fledged birds don't seem to be as afraid of the potential dangers around them and/or their wings aren't strong enough for them to flee those perceived threats. Consequently, people often come across these birds and think they are helpless or abandoned.

Let's dispel some myths and discuss what you can do if you come across a chick on the ground.

If you find a chick that doesn't have many feathers, this is obviously a nestling and it will not be able to fly. If you can find the nest, place the chick back in its nest.  Birds DO NOT have a sense of smell (well, the only bird species that can smell are the vultures) so your touching the nestling will not cause the adult to abandon the chick.
If you cannot find the nest, you can either create an artificial nest with a margarine tub or other similar round object and attach it as best you can close to the place you found the nestling. OR, if you happen to find a nearby nest, place that chick in the nest. As long as the bird species is similar in size, the newest member of the nest will be ok. For example, it's ok to place a Cardinal nestling in a Robin's nest, but do not place a Goldfinch chick in the nest of a Blue Jay. The adult will either kill the chick, or kick it out of the nest. Either way, it will not end well for the nestling.

If you find a fully feathered fledgling (it can be a raptor or songbird) but the adult is nowhere around, DO NOT assume the chick is abandoned. The adult will usually be within range. It may be in the next yard or hidden in the highest part of a tree. As long as you are near the chick, the adult will not approach. Sometimes the adult will leave the chick alone for long periods of time. It may seem counter intuitive, but the best thing you can do is simply leave the chick alone.

That same fully feathered bird may appear to have a difficult time flying or seem like it cannot fly. But don't worry. Like babies learning to crawl before walking, flying for fledgers is a process. It takes time for the wing muscles to develop strength and for the young bird to learn the nuances of flight.

If you see an owlet that is feathered, but obviously cannot fly, don't panic. Branchers sometimes fall and that owlet will be able to climb up the tree back to safety.

Post your chick-related questions and experiences here!

Homes of the Things That Sting

Summer is fast approaching and that means the appearance of bees and wasps. Many people are afraid of these insects, but most don't know that several types of bees and wasps are quite passive and will not sting unless provoked.

This entry was inspired by the sight of this house on a house.

This is the home of a Paper Organ Mud Dauber Wasp (Trypoxylon politum).  These non-aggressive, solitary wasps belong to the Crabronidae family and this includes digger wasps and sand wasps, all considered "hunter wasps". The female wasp gathers mud and builds her nest, where she deposits an egg in each nest cell. The male wasp will guard the nest and mate with the female each time she returns to the nest to feed the larvae. Spiders are the primary food for the growing larvae.
At home, we rarely use the front door as we enter the house through the garage. At some point (probably last summer, from the looks of the nest) a paper wasp created a nest on the frame of our front door. Yikes!

Paper Wasps are in the Vespidae family and the Hymenoptera order. (Bees and ants also belong in this order.) There are several species of paper wasps and all are social. An overwintering paper wasp  emerges in spring and begins building a nest. A queen gathers fibers from dead limbs, exposed boards, paper litter and plant stems. In the next phase of building the female will gather water from puddles, bird baths or other shallow water sources. Then she will regurgitate that water to connect the paper fibers of the nest and create a waterproof coating on top.  It's not long before the nest is buzzing with activity. The eggs hatch into larvae, which remain in this stage for about 2 weeks before entering the pupal stage. The queen then covers the developing pupae with more paper.

The queen continues to build nest cells and lay eggs. Meanwhile, sterile females emerge 3 weeks later from the covered cells and finish building the other nest cells that the queen started, and assist in feeding the larvae and pupae while the queen continually lays eggs. Later in the summer, the queen will lay eggs from which fertile males and females will develop. Once this happens, the queen stops laying eggs, the sterile females stop working and the males and females mate and depart the nest. The males will die during the winter but the females survive to begin the cycle again in the spring.

Did you know that you can make a Bee Box?

These boxes consist of blocks of wood with holes of varying sizes to attract a diversity of bees. These are made to attract solitary bees, who, unlike the society-minded bumblebees and honeybees, prefer to live alone. The Andrenidae and Halicitidae families are the largest solitary bee families. There are some minor behavioral differences between these families, but both nest in underground burrows. You can often find these nests in bare earth or sand. The entrances are usually the diameter of a pencil and it is not unusual to find the excavated earth piled up around the entrance.  There are many types of bee boxes you can make and some are made to place either on or in the ground.

The houses from which these insects are raised are just one aspect of their fascinating stories. There are several books and websites to learn about our wasp and bee friends. I'm still a bit squeamish around the stingers, but the more I read, the less afraid I become and the more my respect grows for these insects.

Sometimes There's an Adventure in Your Backyard

It has been an overcast day here and I let the semi-darkness lull me to sleep this afternoon in the Family Room. When I woke up my cat was chittering with an unusual intensity at something outside the sliding glass doors. I got up in time to see a Cooper's Hawk perched atop my bird feeders. The thought to grab my camera occurred when the nap induced fog lifted from my brain. But as with all things in wildlife, only the fast are rewarded and the slowest are denied. I was too slow and I missed my opportunity. The hawk lifted and was gone.

The Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii) is a medium sized bird of prey in the Accipiter family. They inhabit woodlands, parks and even urban areas. Their food of choice is other birds, preferably those that are dove-sized. Their smaller size and wing shape allow them to zip through trees and shrubs to pursue their prey. Once they capture their prey, this hawk will squeeze it to death, rather than biting to kill, as Falcons often do.

About 30 minutes later I passed through the Family Room and found the Cooper's Hawk in the neighbor's tree in the yard directly behind us. She (I'm calling the hawk a "she" based on the size. Females raptors are generally bigger than their male counterparts. Of course size is difficult to determine when you cannot compare two of the same birds together side by side) was perched among a handful of Cardinals standing guard.

 I was surprised the smaller birds were so close to the hawk, but reasoned she could not easily reach any of these birds just out of talon's reach. I was also surprised that the activity at my bird feeders resumed, despite the hawk's presence. I decided to sit and watch this Cooper's Hawk. For awhile, she perched comfortably, unmoving and uninterested in her surroundings. But then she began to perk up, looking up at the sentinel Cardinals, surveying the yard before her and then looking back at my feeders.

When the hawk shifted to face my feeders, some of the birds in my backyard scattered and the Goldfinch still at the finch feeder barely had enough time to escape with his life by the time Cooper's Hawk launched from the tree.

 It has been my experience that most people tend to believe the exciting wildlife drama happens outside of suburbia and I was once one of those believers. You may not always witness the excitement of a Cooper's Hawk hunting for food at a bird feeder, but if you pay careful attention to your surroundings, you can see the predator-prey food cycle at work. You may find a Praying Mantis sitting on a flower stalk, waiting to ambush the unsuspecting bee, or find a Harvestman with a dying butterfly in its grasp (True story! I watched this!).

I experience mixed feelings each time I have an encounter with a Cooper's Hawk. The presence of this raptor is usually the demise for some poor songbird, but I can't help but admire their beauty and adaptations for hunting. She was a beautiful bird and I'm grateful she livened up my afternoon.