Long-time readers of these posts—and anyone who knows me personally—knows that I’m fascinated by bird behavior. I’ve been closely watching backyard birds for more than twenty years, and every day I see something new.
Just now I’ve been watching quail at the quail block in my bird garden. We are at the height of baby-quail season, and there are several families, with chicks of all different ages. Some of the families are quite large: there’s a group with eight or nine kindergarteners (I’m thinking these might be the same guys I videotaped in my previous post). There are several families with high-school age and even older chicks—not much smaller than the parents. The largest such group that I’ve been able to count had seven adolescents, though most older groups have two to five surviving offspring..
I should really install one of those “take-a-number” machines; the families take turns, waiting for the previous family to finish before coming to the quail block. They are sometimes lined up just outside the fence. Whenever a solitary quail or an overeager youngster tries to join the party before the previous group has left, there is a lot of squawking and running at the intruder. It is very fun to watch.
For another view of bird pecking order and sharing (or not) of resources, check out this discussion of a possessive mockingbird at my previous home.
Speaking of mockingbird and hummer behavior, we had an incident a couple days ago of a hummer imitating mockingbird behavior. There was a cardinal in a tree near the feeder and the hummer kept harassing it (mockingbird style -- HUAAHH!) until it flew off. We did wonder if the hummer was somehow confused by the cardinal's color.
ReplyDeleteGreat observation! I've seen hummers do that on occasion too, though not to a cardinal. Usually to woodpeckers, who around here like to hang on the hum feeders. Those little guys are not intimidated by anything!
DeleteI have the quail in my yard, but no babies. I am guessing they are still too little to get over the wall if this family has any. I have a family of three that regularly run along the wall and come in to eat from time to time. I have some teenage towhees now. They are thinner than their parents. I got a quail block yesterday while I was out shopping. Mostly doves and sparrows and finches though.
ReplyDeleteYes, they are almost certainly too little to get over the wall. I had a teenage towhee on my porch yesterday, though it took me a while to figure out what it was, because it was so skinny. The very large family of grade-school age chicks just showed up. The kids all preceded the parents, running up to the quail block as if they had just arrived at Disneyland.
ReplyDeleteHa! That's funny how the quail families wait their turn at the block!
ReplyDeleteI once saw a Gila woodpecker pecking around in a hummer nest. I thought it might have been seeking food in the form of eggs or nestlings, though I don't know whether those are in their normal diets. Maybe that's why hummers try to chase them off?
I've never heard of a Gila predating hummer eggs, but it's certainly possible, as they do eat insects. I always thought the hummers tried to chase them off because they compete for nectar, but this is another possible reason. This is why I love bird behavior so much. There's always something to speculate about.
ReplyDeleteFrom Point Reyes Bird Observatory website: "Repeatedly observed to be a nest predator of Lucy’s Warbler (Vermivora luciae), Yellow Warbler (Dendroica petechia), and Bell’s Vireo (Vireo bellii) (Edwards and Schnell 2000), though no indication of how frequently Gila Woodpeckers depredate other species’ nests."
ReplyDeleteThat's really interesting. Thanks for posting it. Lucy's warbler often nests in saguaros, so that makes sense. I'll never look at Gilas quite the same way again.
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