Update: Chickadee Feeding

Some of you might remember my First Day post where I asked whether the feeding behavior was that of parent to fledgling or mating behavior that I read about online.

Pamela Llewellyn of the Golden Gate Audubon Society took a look at the post and had this to say.

You have multiple photos of fledgling chickadees. These individuals can be identified by their bright yellow "gape" - you can look up that word in any bird book but it is essentially the flesh along the sides of their beak. This is a visual aid and stimulus for the parents to help in the feeding process - both of whom are bringing back food (protein such as worms etc.) to the young.

The buzzing sound and the fluttering of the wings are both fledgling behavior. Fledglings in general make really crazy call sounds.

During the courtship phase of breeding season the female will (also) use the fluttering wing behavior to solicit mating from the male.

Feel free to share this information with your blog friends.

Thanks! I will!

Mystery solved.

First Day

I think I'm going to start my next five posts with, "Moving is tougher and longer than I remember." :) Unbelievably, my husband wanted to move us in himself, maybe with a little help from the kids. Thankfully, he gave in to my teases about after-move hospital bills. It was hard enough watching the movers!

The first real day at my place, I got a glimpse of some of my new noisy neighbors. There was a huge chirping commotion outside the window, and lo and behold, there were about 3-4 chestnut backed chickadees in the pine tree right off the balcony.

They made the cutest, strangest call. One of my birding books describes it as a "buzzing" noise, which is fairly accurate, but the buzzing is accompanied by little, quick high notes.

Originally, I thought the buzzing sound was somehow made by the rapid flapping of their little wings, but I was wrong.

I also thought that maybe a parent was feeding a fledgling, but through some internet searching, it seems that this behavior might be a courtship ritual. One of the birds, presumably the female or baby, just sat on a branch and screamed at another bird that would fly out and bring back food. The bird being waited on hand and foot would focus their call directly at the foraging bird. The very specific direction of the calling, or screaming if you prefer, was what made me think it might have been a fledgling-parent relationship. The jury's still out on that, but if anyone knows for certain, give us the scoop!

A Rainy Christmas

A squirrel shakes off the rain during a downpour.

Scamp (formerly "The Brave One") grabbing some nuts. A squirrel's still gotta eat!