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Posts from the ‘Florida Birds’ Category

Apr 17

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Red-winged Blackbirds… And Their Babies!

Another nearby nest, with hatchlings! Since Red-winged Blackbirds nest in loose colonies, there’s no dearth of nesting activity, if one’s looking closely enough in our dense marshes. This clutch consisted of three eggs — typical for the species. The eggs were incubated by the female alone, and hatched within 11 to 12 days. Red-winged Blackbirds are born blind and naked, but will be ready to leave the nest 11 to 14 days after hatching. Every time the wind rustled the leaves of this nest, the hatchlings were up and chirping for food….

Female Red-winged Blackbird Feeds the Hatchlings at Her Nest

Red-winged Blackbird Hatchlings Wait for Their Meal

Red-winged Blackbird Hatchlings Wait for Their Meal

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Apr 16

245 Comments

Red-winged Blackbirds… And Their Nests

Red-winged Blackbirds are found in most of North and much of Central America, and are familiar sights in our wetlands. There have been claims that it is the most abundant, and most well studied bird in North America. The males, glossy black with scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches, puff up or hide depending on their level of confidence. In our marshes, they’re quite brave (or protective, in defense-mode), doing as much as they can to get noticed, and belting out their conk-la-ree songs.

Male Red-winged Blackbird

Male Red-winged Blackbird Sings

The female is a subdued brown, with streaks of lighter colorations — and much shyer than her male counterpart. Her brownish coloring serves to camouflage her and the nest, while she’s incubating. Females stay low in the vegetation, searching for food (eating primarily seeds and insects), and weaving their amazing nests. Constructed entirely over the course of three to six days — with no help from the males — the nests are located in cattails, rushes, grasses, or in alder or willow bushes. Located near the water’s surface, the nest is a basket constructed of grasses, sedge, and mosses, lined with mud and bound to surrounding grasses or branches. I’ve watched for nearly an hour in awe, as a female patiently gathered her grasses — and even longer as another intricately wove her basket-nest. It’s beautifully mesmerizing (and believe me, I’m no birdwatching crackerjack!). Red-winged Blackbirds nest in loose colonies, and their predators include snakes, raccoons, and other birds, even the small marsh wrens — and in our area, iguanas. Males serve as sentinels to guard the nest, using various calls to denote the type and severity of danger.

Female Red-winged Blackbird Builds Her Nest

Female Red-winged Blackbird Builds Her Nest

Female Red-winged Blackbird in the Marsh Grasses

Red-winged Blackbird Nest Under Construction, Green Cay Wetlands, Florida

This clutch consists of three eggs — typical for the species (2 to 4). They’re oval and smooth, of a pale bluish coloring, and marked with brown and/or black markings. The eggs are incubated by the female alone, and will hatch within 11 to 12 days. Red-winged Blackbirds are born blind and naked, but are ready to leave the nest 11 to 14 days after hatching.

Red-winged Blackbird Nest with Eggs

More pictures of the most amazing and lovely Blackbirds:

Female Red-winged Blackbird in the Marsh Grasses

Female Red-winged Blackbird in the Marsh Grasses

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Apr 10

4 Comments

A Waggin’ Warbler

In honor of a family member who adores the small and colorful songbirds — and who’s been feeling under the weather, contending with hospitals and doctors and procedures, oh my — today’s post is brought to you by the *Yellow* Palm Warbler. We caught this little guy hiding amidst a strand of young cypress trees, in some protected wetlands. Many people are in such a rush — they’re on the phone, or otherwise scaring the wildlife — when they visit our natural spaces (WHY?), and they miss the tiny bright gems right in front of them.

Palm Warblers are common winter residents in our marshy natural areas, migrating in the late fall to the southeastern U.S. and the Caribbean. The species is comprised of two distinct sub-species, the Yellow Palm Warbler and the Western Palm Warbler. Those breeding in the eastern range are entirely yellow underneath, while those inhabiting the western part of the range are duller in color, with whitish bellies. Palm Warblers primarily breed in bogs — east of the Continental Divide, across Canada and the northeastern United States. A distinctive feature of Palm Warblers is tail wagging, or “pumping.” More than other warblers, this bird forages on the ground for insects and berries.

I’ll miss these guys, these adorable little shocks of yellow in our cypress and marsh.

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Apr 9

2 Comments

Green Heron Fabulousness

It’s always great to see some of the shyer residents of our wetlands, and the Green Heron is one such critter. Small and stocky, they’re similar to other herons in that they remain motionless as they hunt for their meals in swampy and coastal areas. Interestingly, the Green Heron is one of the few tool-using birds: it will drop various baits and lures — in the form of bread crusts, insects, twigs, or feathers — onto the water’s surface to attract small fish.

This male adult green heron was most likely guarding his chosen nesting site (nesting and baby season is in full swing), in the hopes of attracting a mate with his brilliant displays. Although they’re not the best shots — he was really hiding in the dense marsh, and not overly fond of the little attention he was receiving — I couldn’t resist including them; his magnificent ‘do makes me smile.

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Apr 2

9 Comments

The Nesting Great Blues

I’m lucky to have close access to the Green Cay and Wakodahatchee Wetlands (Seminole for “created waters”), and when we’re not able to hike the Everglades or some of the other far-reaching natural area, a stroll around these boardwalks will soothe my spirits. It’s full-on nesting and baby season, and while I’ve posted some pics of the anhingas and others (the baby gators I’ve yet to post), I’ve saved the biggest for last: the ever-so-graceful Great Blue Herons. Their displays at the rookery fuel the attentions of every amateur and professional photographer and birdwatcher for miles, and the meek (*me*) have no place if it’s crowded…which is fine, because while the herons are divine, there’s plenty of other loveliness to be found when no one’s looking.

The Great Blue parents share the responsibilities of feeding their young at the nest, by hunting on a full-time schedule and regurgitating the food. The battle for food is brutal among the chicks; the first to hatch is more experienced in food handling, and consequently grows more quickly than the others. Such aggression in the interaction with the sibling chicks (as well as the discrepancy in size) can be seen at the Wakodahatchee rookeries, where the humans root for the younger, weaker chicks that consistently lose after fierce battles for food. This particular nest had two young herons — there initially may have been more eggs however, because we spied an iguana lurking in the depths of the rookery, obviously looking for eggs to steal.

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The size discrepancy of the chicks often dictates the winner of the food…

The end of a fierce struggle for food…

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