Jungle Birds

The bright yellow color of a western tanager always brings a smile to my face. When I see one I feel like I have been transported, from a dark northwest forest, to a sunlit jungle. According to Cornell's, Birds of North America, western tanagers spend their winters from Mexico to Costa Rica. During their spring migration, they transport themselves to our northwest tree tops. It almost feels like they bring the sunshine with them.

This male was searching for food in a pacific madrone tree in the Washington Park Arboretum, earlier this month. 

One of my photographic goals is to capture a bird in a pacific madrone tree, so that the bird and the tree, are both optimally displayed. These photos have not fully captured their combined elegance, but it was very exciting to be teased by the opportunity.

During breeding season tanagers, like many other birds, increase the insect portion of their diet. In Birds of North America, it mentions they sometimes remove the extremities before eating insects.

This photo makes me wonder if that is what has happened here.

Either way, the bird was challenged by the size of its snack.

Ultimately, the tanager successfully consumed the tidy tidbit.

Afterwords, the tanager wiped its beak on a nearby branch.

After cleaning one side, it also wiped the other, as well. This cleaning method is surprisingly widespread among birds. Off the top of my head, I can remember seeing hummingbirds, barred owls and bald eagles do the same thing, just after eating.

While with my brother in southern Washington earlier this week, I was lucky enough to encounter western tanagers once again. 

Even though they are bright yellow and fairly common, they can be hard to notice as they work their way through the tree top foliage. Here we were lucky that they descended into a relatively small, red-alder tree.

It is also interesting to notice how the red color on this bird's neck was greatly reduced by the sunlight, especially compared to the prior photo, when its head is shaded.

An alternative way to find western tanagers is to listen for their songs or calls. I still have a lot to learn about bird sounds, but my initial understanding is that songs are generally longer and more melodic and may have to do with proclaiming a territory. While calls tend to be shorter and focus more on warnings and staying in contact with other birds. Given the complexity of bird behavior, I expect there may be exceptions.

To listen to the songs of the western tanager on Cornell's All About Birds, Click Here. They mention that the sound is similar to an american robin. To me, the tanager sounds like a robin with a sore throat who has been slowed by an overdose of cough medicine.

For the last few days, I have been noticing some smaller, yellow birds flittering about among the inner branches of the indian plums, in the Arboretum. These birds are also spring migrants from sunnier climes.

Their little black beanies give them away. They are Wilson's warblers. It can be hard to see them clearly as they flit back and forth among low lying branches. Occasionally, they will hop into the air and pick a tasty treat off the underside of an overhead leaf. One of the best ways to see them is to stop, and sit perfectly still under an indian plum, and then wait for them to come to you. This may seem like odd behavior, but the mental transport to a sunlit jungle makes it all worthwhile.

Have a great day on Union Bay…where the jungle comes to you!

Larry

Bonus Photo:

Here is an unknown sunlit flower from the Arboretum. I would love know what type of flower it is, if anyone happens to know. (ldhubbell at comcast.net) Thank you!

A Mother's Gift

This female mallard has so many ducklings it is a wonder that she can keep track of them. This is the only photo which shows all of her young. How many do you see?

Being a mother must feel like she is teetering on a fence. On one-side is her fear for her young, which could easily exhaust her.

On the other hand, she must feel great pride in their beauty and perfection.

A mother knows her young are special. Even though neither parent has yellow feathers, the ducklings have a bright, sun-kissed look. They are clearly the essence of spring.

Their focus on food demonstrates a surprisingly long attention span, for such young creatures.

They require no guidance from their mother to keep them on task.

Seldom does the duckling's vision stray... 

…from looking for the next tiny morsel.

When they do look up ….

…their youth and innocence is fearless.

Still, they have a healthy instinct...

…which keeps them close to their mother, at least initially.

 All in all, the need to feed remains their top priority.

Every opportunity is investigated.

Occasionally, there is a little indecision about who gets the next bug or floating seed.

New experiences, like this bubble, make the ducklings curious. They must wonder, "Is it good to eat?"

Watching them makes me curious, how much is known from instinct, how much is learned from their parents and how much is learned the hard way.

Do they know they can "walk on water" or ….

… do they just assume they can do anything?

Ultimately, they will grow too heavy to stroll across the lily pads, but then they will learn to fly.

They may or may not live up to their mother's expectations, but either way, they are their mother's gift to life on earth.

This week's column is dedicated to all our mothers. Thank you for believing in us!

Larry

A Floating Nest of Feathered Friends

The pied-billed grebe is a common bird with some uncommon behaviors. For example, it is always surprising to see a grebe squeeze the water out of its feathers and simply submerge, without a ripple.

 A mother feeding her young is not surprising.

However, offering the young bird a feather seems odd.

The chick appears to share the sentiment. All About Birds suggests that grebes consume feathers to create an internal filter which stops large, hard objects from entering and harming their intestines.

The chick's zebra-like facial stripes seem unusual…

 especially when compared to the simple and sedate coloring of the parent's face.

Maybe the stripes are one of nature's ways of hiding the young birds.

Difficulty focusing on the chick's features and shape may confuse predators. 

Last week there were four young birds in this floating nest in Duck Bay. 

This week there was only one young bird left. It appears predators are not easily confused. Still, the parents must be given credit for their protective efforts.

Not all birds will carry their young on their backs...

…and hide them under their wings.

Most birds will build nests...

…but the grebes continued to bring material to hide the nest even after the young have hatched.

The male is not just concerned with predators, he also protects their territory from competitors.

His posturing includes lifting his wings to look larger…

…stretching to his full height and thrashing the water…

…verbal discourse…

,,,and general intimidation. The males parted ways without inflicting any apparent damage. Still it was clear a line had been drawn and a boundary defined.

Catching their food is another challenge and responsibility for the parents but…

…passing the food to the young bird and then watching it struggle to control and eat the fish must be especially difficult.

Often the young bird would drop the fish and the parents would have to catch it again and bring it back for another attempt.

Parenting is the hardest, and the most rewarding, work we ever do...

…whether we are human or grebe.

Have a great day on Union Bay…where nature nests in the city!

Larry