There is a lot of baby bird activity going on this time of year. Not only are baby hummingbirds out of the nest and visiting feeders, more than doubling the number of nectar visitors, other young birds are foraging around the yard. It just takes a minute of being still to find them.
I stepped outside because I heard tapping, a sign of a woodpecker near by. I wondered if a Pileated Woodpecker was around, but found the next best thing--a female Red-bellied Woodpecker foraging in the pines. I will show you images of her in my next post, but in this one, I wanted to show you some of the baby stuff going on under that same tree!
There were several American Robins running around on the ground and I quickly identified them as juveniles with rusty breasts still speckled with dark spots and white down, and their back and wing feathers also speckled with white.
They already have very robin-like posture and movements. Alert stance, listening to everything above and below, lightening quick feet. They learn quickly to watch for food and watch for danger at the same time.
A good strategy--don't linger in one place for too long!
Right after the young robin scurried away, a Carolina Chickadee landed in front of me. I would not have thought much of it had I not snapped some images just because the camera was in my hand.
Parent and juvenile chickadees look the same. I glanced at these images and concluded, this must be a juvenile! He has picked up a yummy rock for all his foraging efforts!
He seems to be wondering what to do with his prize.
Thankfully, Carolina Chickadee juveniles follow their parents around for several weeks while they learn to find food and feed themselves!
Next: Red-bellied Woodpeckers foraging
Carolina Chickadee
American Robin
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