Thursday, June 7, 2012

Birding Fun with Baby Birds

Baby House Sparrow, Tucson, AZ 2009
Birding is always fun, but with spring in full swing the baby birds are starting to show up in our yards. Now it's not only fun, its noisy! Once they are fledged most songbird chicks will follow their parents to the feeders and flutter and chirp and beg for food. Almost all of us will see a baby robin or a baby house sparrow in our yards at one time or another, but there are many more species of birds out there and they all have babies! 

Mourning Dove on Nest AZ 2008
 I am always surprised at the creative places birds choose to nest. This mourning dove in Arizona chose to nest in a pot on a neighbor's porch. The neighbor would sit quite close to it and the bird would not fly away! However, I do not recommend this. While we all like to feel close to nature, the birds will do better if we observe from a distance. 

Juvenile Mourning Dove Tucson, AZ 2008
While you can see the adult above looks smooth all over, this newly fledged juvenile looks kind of scaly in appearance. While in most of the county this would make identifying this bird species easy, in Arizona one must be careful not to confuse this juvenile mourning dove with the similarly colored and scaly looking Inca Dove!
Curve-billed Thrasher AZ
An adult Curve-billed Thrasher is also readily apparent from that long curved bill and the bright orange eyes,

Juvenile curve-billed Thrasher Corona de Tucson, AZ 2009
 but did you know that juvenile Curve-billed Thrashers have gray eyes? I found this one out in the big wash of Sycamore Canyon on the side of the Santa Rita Mountains in Corona de Tucson when I lived there. You can also see that its beak is not quite so long and curved yet!

Gambel's Quail Chicks Coroana de Tucson, AZ 2009
Is there anything cuter than Gambel's Quail chicks! These tiny babies must have been newly hatched. They were no bigger than the pebbles they are camouflaged like and to me they look like fuzzy pieces of popcorn running around with legs!


I would always put out a seed block to attract quail and other birds. It never failed to bring in the parents and the babies! These chicks look like they are playing King of the Mountain!


You can see that these chicks are a bit more mature than the tiny ones in the first photo.


I couldn't resist one more shot!


Great Horned Owl Chicks, Tucson, AZ 2009
 Of course, Great Horned Owl chicks are awfully cute in their own way!

Mystery Baby Corona de Tucson, AZ 2008
 But who am I?

I spotted this bird in a Palo Verde tree and tried to decide which species it was. It was a small, gray bird with no wing bars and no other coloring except a pale base to its lower mandible. Some species of flycatchers have this as a trait, but this bird did not behave like a flycatcher. Rather, it clung to the edge of the branches and twigs gleaning insects off the leaves and flowers. Do you know who it is? Behavior and location are key in this case, and the yellow lower mandible is a remnant of the bird's baby beak. It's parent has a bit more color but not much.

Juvenile Verdin AZ 2008
 After some research I discovered the tiny gray bird is an immature Verdin! Verdin are tiny insects eating birds of the southwest. The adult's head is washed with yellow and has reddish lesser coverts or, epaulets as I like to call them. Such a tiny little soldier in such a dashing uniform!

Juvenile Gilded flicker with parent AZ 2009
 I always find it interesting how the adult birds bring their fledglings to the feeders and actually show them where and how to get food! This new Gilded Flicker is watching and waiting for papa to pull out a seed and feed it to her. Yes, the juveniles will fly to the feeder, then cling there and beg! Eventually the parents will have had enough and they fly off and leave the pleading juveniles behind until they figure it out for themselves!

Juvenile Gray Catbird Andover, MA 2011
Last summer at the bog I was lucky enough to find this juvenile Gray Catbird in the brush alongside the swamp. You can see it still has a bit of a larger eye and a wider, pale-colored base to its beak. I wonder if this bird has returned as an adult this year to raise its own brood?

Wild turkey and chicks, Norridgewock, ME 2012
I found this mother turkey skulking in the weeds alongside a dirt road in Norridgewock, Maine a few weeks ago. At first all I could see was her head above the weeds but then she darted out into the middle of the road to cross to the other side and when she did a whole stream of little chicks followed her. I counted at least 14 little balls of fluff but there may have been more. It was such a thrill to see these wild babies in the wild. It really is what makes birding so much FUN!

Come visit me at Kathie's Birds! There were a couple of photos I wanted to post here but for some reason they would not upload, so I am posting them there. 

30 comments:

  1. Que fotos mas bonitas con tanta vida nueva.Saludos

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  2. Delightful post Kathie! The quail chicks have a special place in the hearts of my family.

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    1. Robert, I can understand why! I sure miss seeing them!

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  3. Wow Kathie nice work! You've got a great and impressive photo log of young birds! It's hard to top Quail chicks, but I think the juvenile Thrashers at least come pretty close.

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    1. Laurence, I knew I had this photo of the thrasher and I never posted it before so it was perfect for today. I loved seeing it again myself!

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  4. What a lovely post. They are all cute, but the quail chicks always make me smile. Gambel's Quail nest on my property, and I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of chicks. :-)

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    1. Linda, they would always make me smile when they showed up in the spring. I was fortunate to be able to see several broods hatch and visit. I never could get over how tiny they are when newly hatched! I hope they visit you soon!

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  5. I love this post, Kathie. The quail chicks are very, very cute!

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    1. Prairie birder, now you know why I posted so many photos of them! Thanks!

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  6. Love this post as well as the pictures on Kathies Birds where you had the baby owls photo. I remember when you took my be to see them in person! Like everyone else, the quail babies are too cute. I laughed at the turkey babies too. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Oh good! I'm glad you are laughing! What good times we had in AZ! I wonder if the owls are still nesting there. I fear they may not be because so many people found out about them and were going to photograph them.

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  7. Kathie, What an amazing group of images of the Gambel's Quail chicks. You are so lucky to have such amazing wildlife so close to home. Thanks for the share!

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    1. Sunriver, thank you. While I no longer live in Arizona I still have lots of photos of my life there. Now I live in Massachusetts and I am visited by many different kinds of birds here. Wherever I am, there are birds, and that makes me smile!

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  8. Wow, Kathie! What a great time you must have had capturing all these cute baby birds. They are all so adorable, I loved all of them. Great post.

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    1. Thanks Eileen! and I have even more showing up at my house every day!

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  9. Incredible photos Kathie! Gambel's Quail have the cutest chicks of all. Those young Verdin have made me scratch my head more than once. Great post!

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    1. Jeremy, that not only fooled me, they fooled one of the birding experts at Tucson Audubon at first! Now I'd know one anywhere!

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  10. Great post Kathie! So many adorable chicks! I definitely agree with the others, those Quail chicks take the cake, super cute!

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    1. Thanks Tammy! I miss seeing them, but the turkey chicks were awfully cute too!

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  11. .....aaaaahhhh! Cute, cute, cute. The Gambel's Quail chicks are adorable. I've never seen one. Love your baby bird series!

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    1. Thanks Kelly! I bet you would have fun sketching and painting the little fluff balls!

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  12. Kathie, this is such a delightful post! Oh my goodness, those Gambel's chicks are the cutest little birds ever. I love their tiny head sprouts. Very interesting about the differences between the young Curved-bill Thrasher and the adult. The size and curve of the bill is so slight compared to when it has grown. All of your photographs are terrific! I love the Great-horned Owl chicks, juvenile Gray Catbird and handsome woodpeckers. I should be seeing Wild Turkey chicks in our area soon. So very cute. Fabulous post, Kathie!

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    1. Julie, thank you so much! That means a lot coming from you!

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  13. VERY enjoyable post Kathie! Really enjoyed seeing such a variety of bird families .. all adorable views! And interesting to see how different areas provide unique nesting places for birds like the Great Horned Owl. Here in Illinois I see them in tree cavities and old hawk nests ... so the Arizona cavity was an especially delightful view for me :) Wonderful post!

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    1. Debbie, it was quite a surprise to me the first time I saw it too!

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