Red-winged Blackbird Surprise

“Placed in water, the half-grown nestling will float and can swim, but in a very excited manner. They will swim to the reeds and hold on, calling for their parents. When well covered with feathers, but yet a few days before being ready to vacate the nest, they readily swim, but excitedly, and can climb up the cattails to the nest.” Harold Wood, 1937. My first reaction to reading the above quote was, “Whaaat? Those spindly little legs and feet can’t possibly swim. They aren’t even wading birds.”

It reminded me of my initial reaction to the whooping crane chick falling off the edge of the nest as I sat peacefully photographing him. I felt near panic, thinking surely he will drown. But no, whooping crane chicks are born in nests fabricated of grasses piled high in shallow water. It makes sense that they can swim even though their parents are not equipped for swimming.

Whooping crane chicks are born with webbed feet and can swim faster and with greater skill than they can initially walk, an awkward, tumbling sort of gait as they navigate the grasses. They are so funny to watch. But I digress-- I’m supposed to be talking about blackbirds.
Isn’t that fascinating that blackbird young can swim, not gracefully, not immediately and not as a life time pursuit, but for a little while, so they won’t drown if they fall out of the nest into the water around them?

Nature provides in amazing ways, ways we don’t understand and barely even notice, unless we take a minute to look a little closer. And what we discover when we do this will always be delightful and surprising.

More about my journey with this Red-winged songster in upcoming posts.