Feathers and Fuzz

one woman's cure for the empty-nester blues

Eve of Destruction – Pantherophis spiloides

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I all but danced around here Wednesday caught up in the excitement of the door-sitting rural Bluebird nestlings, the flapping House Finch nestlings peering over the edge of their platform, and the bundle of Carolina Wren nestlings spilling out of the cup into the foliage around their nest.

Finch Nestling Checking Out His Wings and the World Below

Finch Nestling Checks Out Wings & World Below

Wren Nestling Pile Speaks With One Voice

Wren Nestling Pile Speaks With One Voice

I set up ANOTHER camera to capture the Wrens emerging from the floral jungle.  I was writing the post in my head and was very excited about the title:  June is Bustin’ Out All Over.  I even had BLUE Bluebird eggs to show you.

Parent Wren Bringing Food to Floral Jungle

Parent Wren Bringing Food to Floral Jungle

BLUE Bluebird Eggs - Garden House

Bluebird Eggs in Color

This morning, the song went from my head.

Pantherophis spiloides (Gray Rat Snake) delivered an Eve of Destruction.  He climbed 30’ to reach the Finch nest 12’ above the second-floor terrace.  From there, he managed to hunt down the Wren nest some 50’ away.  When I awoke around 6 and turned on the cameras – he was still in the Wren nest, but it was too late.  Drake, the Pit Bull, and I went out and chased the snake off the terrace.  I suppose I could have allowed him to finish devouring his kill, but I found it more satisfying to push him off the edge of the terrace.  I knew he’d survive the 14’ drop, but I hoped he would remember the stick-lady and her big-headed dog.

So now – you may ask – exactly how do I plan to turn THIS into an uplifting post?  I’ve been holding out on you.  I have this video I use to lift my spirits when I am downtrodden. It was taken here, at The Retreat – indirectly featuring my “Fuzz Buddy”, Drake.  It has a way of making a bad day go dim in the light of a life filled with many, many blessings.

Raising a House Finch Family

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Being an observer of "Raising a House Finch Family" on camera has been quite the experience.  Obviously, the whole Cowbird nightmare was a piece of it.  What has been equally-educational to me is how different a Finch family is from the other songbirds who have nested on camera.

Finch Nesting Differences

  • Fresh, green plant material is used in nest construction.  The other nests I have observed contain only non-green material.
  • The nest cup is shallower and much more-loosely "thrown" together.  (The bottom to the current nest on my property is completely pushed away.  The nestlings are resting on the bare wood of the platform.  Makes me wonder what would happen if this nest were on a branch!)
  • The female parent spends considerably more time sitting on the nest -- almost constantly during incubation and well-into the first week of the nestlings' lives.
  • It appears the female parent's primary nourishment comes from her mate feeding her -- compared to the male providing an occasional meal to the female.
  • The male parent also appears to take primary responsibility for feeding the nestlings -- a duty shared by my other on-camera songbird parents.
  • Nestlings are fed almost exclusively a vegetarian diet -- quite the contrast to the mealworm-feasting families inhabiting my other nest sites.
  • The parent eats the plant/seed material and then regurgitates it when feeding the nestlings -- hmmm -- some similarity to cows here.  I wonder if that's what attracts the Cowbirds?!  (Okay, I don't really wonder that.)  Regurgitation behavior has not been observed among the other nesting species.
  • The shape of the nestlings' beaks is also quite different -- much narrower; almost heart-shaped -- not broad and triangular like the others.
  • It strikes me how the two nestlings in this brood commonly eat with their beaks touching each other.  It's a striking difference from the other species' nestlings whose only goal in life is to reach closest to the incoming food.
  • Finally, I don't know what it is about Finches and their busy-body nature!  Poor Mom and Dad Finch spend considerable time chasing off other Finches (mostly female) who feel compelled to stop and stare at the nest/nestlings.

 

Foreign Female Finch Visits Finch Nest

Foreign Finch Visits House Finch Nest

In the feature video, you will see Dad House Finch feeding his offspring on two different occasions.  Note that Mom Finch is on the nest in the first feeding and she appears to duck out of the way while Dad does the feeding.  In between the two feedings, yet-another visitor arrives to stare at the nest and nestlings.  You'll see one nestling begin to respond to the visitor's presence with open beak, but appears to quickly realize this is a foreign species and backs away.  In the second feeding, Dad dares to turn his back after he arrives with lunch and at least one nestling is quite unhappy about it.