Fluffy, feathery, floofy owlets have hatched! Two were born on Sunday, the third on Monday. Tiny and fragile, they’re covered with fine, white down; it’s hard to believe that these helpless little creatures will grow into fierce hunters.
Mama’s tail feathers fill the top of the photo. The dark splotch just below are the remains of a bird or rat–I can’t quite tell; food tends to shift around a bit. You’ll notice the scattering of feathers amoung the nesting material.
Uptown Girl is an attentive parent and Shy Guy is now perched in the oak tree, very near the nest box. His job is to protect the nestbox and hunt for his family. He’s delivered a couple of rats and at least one bird, (sob, I think it was a Carolina Wren), as meals for mama and babies. Eastern Screech Owls enjoy a varied diet, which is one reason why they’re so successful in urban areas. Meals range from insects to earthworms, toads and frogs, rodents and birds.
In the weeks that the female was in the nest box awaiting her bundles of joy, she slept quite a bit. Now, she’s more active, with nearly non-stop feeding and cleaning of the chicks. She and the chicks do have some quiet, restful moments throughout the day and often, the chicks are nestled under mama’s warm, feathered body. When the chicks are awake, I’m enjoying their peep-peep songs, such sweet little sounds, though probably indication hunger. Mama continues to trill during the day.
Early in the mornings (about 6AM) when I first check the owl cam, she’s not usually in the box, though she typically returns shortly afterward. Just before sundown, she goes out, but only briefly. As the chicks grow, her absences from the box will become longer and more frequent, as she’ll also hunt; it’ll take two adults to feed these hungry, growing chicks.
It feels weirdly invasive to watch these beautiful animals in their intimate family life, but it’s fascinating to observe the preparation for and parenting of their offspring. Though a few days since the segue from eggs to chicks, the chicks have grown and in a month’s time, they’ll fledge. Their development, supervised by their parents’ excellent training, will continue in more natural settings, less observable by human eyes.
It wasn’t the signature hoot of a Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus, that alerted me to its presence in a neighbor’s big, beautiful Live Oak tree early this morning, but instead, the vociferous complaints of a mob of Blue Jays, Cyanocitta cristata.
I think this gorgeous bird is a juvenile Great Horned Owl, most likely last year’s hatch. It could be an adult, as our neighborhood has sustained at least one pair of nesting Great Horns for years.
Just after I returned from visiting stunning Costa Rica in November, for several weeks each day, I heard a call that I couldn’t identify, even with the Merlin app sound feature. In time, my neighbor (and sister-in-law) discovered that the call is the ‘begging call‘ that young owls use for catching the attention of their adults. Once they’ve left their parents’ tutelage, young owls use that call for a time to let their parents know where they are located in the wider world.
Handsome Bird stayed in the tree for at least an hour, with its Blue Jay back up screamers serving as annoying company.
Blue Jay nemesis perches on the branch just above the owl, cawing nonstop.
As I snapped photos, the big, beautiful bird turned southward, spread its magnificent wings, and flew to a quieter spot. Maybe it’ll get some rest today, before hunting commences at sundown.
Throughout the seasons, it’s fun and educational to watch backyard birds. Winter-to-late spring brings a wider variety of feathered friends and with each day marching toward spring breeding season, avian activity ramps up. Over-wintering, migratory birds have settled in, as much as they will do, until their need to breed becomes so demanding that the birds set forth northward to their nesting sites.
This season there are at least three Orange-crowned Warblers, Leiothlypis celata, visiting my garden each day. Sometimes, all three are perched in bare shrubs and trees, sometimes they’re chasing one another, and sometimes one–or all three–are at the feeders, gobbling up the good stuff.
I’m not sure whether this cutey is a male or female; it never turned just so, to allow me a good enough look at a possible masculine orange dab atop its little head. But it ate contentedly, the seed cylinder being a popular spot for many birds, including all three of the Orange-crowned Warblers.
So far this winter, only one female Yellow-rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata, has visited the garden. She likes peanuts and the offerings from the seed cylinder,
…but she also forages along the ground. The yellow rump has not presented itself for a decent photo, but stay tuned, because at some point I’ll get a chance to document that butter butt.
This Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Corthylio calendula, bopped along the bare limb of one of the Red Oak trees, pausing just long enough for me to snag a shot. These are tiny, flitty birds, which I see only in winter. They don’t visit feeders often, but enjoy nibbling small insects on trees and shrubs. Males sport a truly ruby-red tuft of feathers which they’ll show when flirting with females or mansplaining to other males. I don’t know if this one is a male, its ruby feathers weren’t visible. The kinglet’s tiny size and wing bars, not to mention its endearing face, are other reliable identifiers of this bird.
Red-winged Blackbirds, Agelaius phoeniceus, are spring to early summer visitors, but a crew with a couple of males and several females have been hanging around the garden. This attractive female sat still for a moment, taking a break from her meal of seeds and nuts.
White-winged Doves are ubiquitous in Austin’s urban settings, including my garden. They’re here. Lots of them. Year-round. Maybe because they’re so common, I’m not interested in them, but I’m also not particularly fond of them; I refer to them as rats with wings. But during winter Mourning Doves, Zenaida macroura, like these two sweethearts, hang out in the garden on warm, clear days, sunbathing and pecking at what has dropped on the ground from the trees and feeders. These rarer (to my garden) birds are most welcome.
Black-crested Titmice, Baeolophus atricristatus, are year-round resident birds, singing melodically and favoring the peanut and sunflower seeds.
In winter, after leaf drop, it’s easier to spy these diminutive, darling birds. There are not many critters more charming than a titmouse.
Woodpeckers have returned; they’re scarce during autumn, after babies are raised and fledged. Parents need a break, I guess. Recently, I’ve enjoyed the antics of three Downy Woodpeckers, Dryobates pubescens: two females (like this one) and one male, who sports a bright red hat. I often hear the Downies well before I spot them in the Red Oak trees.
The Red-bellied Woodpeckers, Melanerpes carolinus, are also around this February. This pretty boy, and sometimes a female, enjoy the peanuts I offer. They’re particularly shy around me, but once they’re on the feeders, they defend their meal-time munchies, even from bullying Blue Jays.
You’ll notice that the head is red, but the bird is named after its belly–where there is a blush of red, not seen in this photo. There exists a Red-headed Woodpecker and it lives in this area, though I’ve never seen one in my garden. I’m still waiting and watching…
This ruddy male House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus, peeks around the safflower feeder at me, while the sunshine yellow male Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria, glances shyly away from the camera. Lesser Goldfinches come and go in my garden throughout the year. They enjoy the seeds of Plateau Goldeneye and common sunflowers, but they visit the safflower or sunflower seed feeders if they fancy a less foliaged dining spot. This Lesser, along with his ruddy buddy House Finch, certainly add cheery spots of color in the otherwise muted winter garden.
It’s easier to notice male House Finches, though not because they’re more common than the females, but because they’re more colorful. That said, I think the females are adorable, if more subtly colored.
Look at that winsome face! House Finches are some of my favorite birds, and fortunately for my backyard bird watching, always around. They’re social and chatty birds, visiting with one another as they eat. Honestly, they never shut up!
Other birds have come into the garden, too. The neighborhood Cooper’s Hawk and Red Tail Hawks swoop through from time-to-time. Sadly, my Eastern Screech Owl(s) are gone and I’m disappointed; I’ll miss (yet again!) their beautiful early morning trilling and their enchanting chicks, but there are other Screeches in my neighborhood who are settling in to their nest boxes. Hopefully, I’ll be able to observe their families.
European Starlings and Monk Parakeets have visited, neither of which I’m crazy about. I like the Monks: they’re beautiful and entertaining–total clowns–but they hog the safflower feeder. They’re not bullies like the starlings, but they scare all the smaller birds due to their size and their refusal to leave the feeders once they’ve started eating. The also make a bit of a mess…
With each passing day, I’m adding more seeds and peanuts to the feeders. I’m hearing more calls and bird son, and witnessing more bird activity. Winter is still a thing, but it’s clear to me that spring is not too far away and I think wildlife knows that too!
My Gardener Says... 