This late in the summer, most songbirds in the backyard are finished raising their young. Earlier, a pair of Carolina Wrens built a nest in the gourd outside our kitchen door, but they decided to raise a brood elsewhere apparently. In the last week or so, however, I've noticed them on the patio making LOTS of noise, as these small brown birds can do. One captive male Carolina Wren sang nearly 3,000 times in a single day.
I'll never figure out how they can hold a bug firmly in the beak, and sing or scold at the same time.
They particularly like to sit on the chairs around the patio table while delivering dinner to the chicks. Are they calling to waken the babies? To make sure no predators are around?
When we eat at the patio table, they are very unhappy. The scold us from the trees, the fences, nearby bushes, trying their best to chase these monsters away from their children.
The chicks hear them, and are getting big enough to stretch up and extend their beaks outside the hole in the gourd. "Here Mom, we're ready. Bring the bug on a fast fly-by, and we'll catch it!"
Either one of the parents got brave or we moved far enough away for their comfort, and this one made a stop at the nest. Think how many trips it must take them to feed one bug to each chick each time! Yet those little birds will incubate the eggs for 12-16 days, and in another 10-16 days the chicks are ready to fledge.
These chicks must be nearing the end of their days in the nest gourd. Here's one brave little guy taking a look at the world before he has to jump out into it. I'll know they are gone when the parents stop making a racket on my patio chairs all day!
1 comment:
It always surprises me how these little characters choose a nesting spot. They built a nest two feet from our front door. That wall is covered in Ivy. About three feet from where a half grown tomcat has taken up residence in our kitchen window sill. A dog is almost always on our porch below the nest. The chicks can now be heard cheeping when we open the kitchen door. An adult perched on the porch railing making yet another delivery, it seems like every time we look out the screen door. Have been enjoying your posts as always.
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