Baby Birds

We’re getting to the time of year when birds of all shapes and sizes are building their nests to prepare for more birds. Most recently, I’ve seen two Phoebes located around an overhang of a neighbor’s house, some Carolina Wrens building a nest near our house, and even spotted a Red-shouldered Hawk perched with a beakful of leaves, sure to be used as nesting material. 

Last year, a pair of Brown Thrashers set up their temporary home in the bushes in front of our house. It was great to see the two parents come and go as they prepared their nesting spot, glimpse the mother as she sat on the eggs, watch the parents enter the bushes with a beakful of worm, and hear the tiny cacophony of peeps intensify at the sight of food.  

Baby birds are funny little creatures. Soon after they hatch, they are covered in spiky almostfeathers. And their beaks seem too big for their tiny, featherless bodies though I guess it makes sense as they probably want to present as big of a target as possible for mom and dad. 

They are also indiscriminate when it comes to who or what they will thrust their open mouth towards. Any movement around their nest will be met with a burst of peeps and a rustle as they position themselves, mouth open, ready to receive whatever food you might have brought. They also always look grumpy—a trait that carries well into their juvenile phase. 

Before long, they fledge and leave the only world they’ve known to that point. 

For a time after they left the nest, I’d see the two juvenile thrashers hanging out in the bushes near their nest. Mom and Dad would still bring them food, though that service tapered out before too long as well. 

And then they were gone, off to their own patch of the world. Mom and Dad Thrasher stuck around for a bit, but the urgency was gone. They were true empty nesters—having done all they could for their kids, they returned to themselves.