Say’s Phoebes (conclusion)
Here are some behavioral videos I thought might be entertaining and educational. The first is nestling behavior during the last few days before fledging. Notice how much preening is going on. Gotta get those feathers ready for flight! The parents bring food but just enough to sustain them. The deliveries get fewer and farther apart so the young will have some incentive to leave — they’re hungry!
The parents have done a good job of keeping the nest clean by removing the fecal material which is encased in a sack while the birds are in the nest. This “package” makes it easy for the parent to remove it. Watch as the young turn around and “present” the fecal sac to the adult.
Because they’re flycatchers, the phoebes must quickly learn to catch insects both on the ground and on the fly. Here the young already recognize a small flying insect as a potential meal and snap at it. It reminds me of people watching a tennis match!
They spent the last few days exercising their wings. This video was taken the day before fledging.
The phoebes fledged on 6/19, a day I was not at home to watch or video them. Nevertheless they didn’t go very far. In fact, that evening they spent the night huddled on top of the porch light just across from their nest. The next evening they moved to another porch. The parents are supplementing their diet with insects while teaching them to catch them on their own. Here a youngster waits patiently on one a chair for a food delivery. We can still hear the begging calls of the young whenever we’re outside.
What do I do now?
So now, on to other subjects and there are so many more things to write about!
June 28th, 2009 at 10:43 pm
I enjoying reading about the animals in Dragoon Mountain Ranch. We hope to move there some day soon.