Here's what I saw this morning just outside my window. Baby cardinals...altogether there were four. The first picture is of two of them. Then, when Dad came, a couple of sparrows joined in. I waited and missed so many pictures because of the skittish Dad. As soon as I moved...he left. Finally he decided that I was OK and he started feeding them. The other two were out on the clothesline post...just a few feet away. I never saw Mom feeding them, but I saw Dad over and over taking care of these babies. Mom was down on the deck floor showing them how to pick up seed and eat on their own. I would never have known that these were baby Cardinals if I hadn't seen this.
Balisha
It has been brought to my attention that the bird the cardinal is feeding is a baby cowbird. We saw 4 babies, so I guess the cardinal eggs were pushed out and the cowbird left it's clutch of eggs. Strange things happen in nature...Barbee brought it to my attention. http://barbeeslog.blogspot.com/ Thanks, Barbee..
It has been brought to my attention that the bird the cardinal is feeding is a baby cowbird. We saw 4 babies, so I guess the cardinal eggs were pushed out and the cowbird left it's clutch of eggs. Strange things happen in nature...Barbee brought it to my attention. http://barbeeslog.blogspot.com/ Thanks, Barbee..
9 comments:
Balisha, thank you for sharing.
I would love to witness something like that at my feeders...
Balisha, I don't think they are. They look like young cow birds. I fear a mother cow bird has laid her eggs in their nest to get the cardinals to raise them for her. Do you really think they are cardinals? You saw them in person, and I'm just looking at the photos. Baby cardinals have beaks shaped like the parents, but the color is dark not red.
Barbee...I think that you are right. I checked out pictures of each baby and they do look exactly like baby cowbirds. We have had cowbirds hanging around here and also, if I think back correctly we had the same thing last year, only I didn't get a picture of them.Those parents were sure devoted to them...how funny. You win the prize for identifying those birds :) Balisha
Hi Ernestine....if you have read Barbee's comment...and then mine..you now know that they are baby cowbirds. Those parents acted just like they were feeding little cardinals. Nature is unusual sometimes.
Balisha
Hi, I was just checking out how many eggs cowbirds lay in a season and found that they lay 36 to 40 eggs per season. Wow!
We have a pair of cardinals at our feeders and the male is always feeding the female...Boy, does she have him trained or what.
Those are really good photos, Balisha.
I have heard of Cowbirds throwing out eggs and leaving their own but have never saw it. How nice of the Cardinals and other birds to bring them up. Great pictures!
I've heard of such things..
I would have thought the baby cardinals would be at least a bit red. Great pictures, Balisha! :)
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