A drink of nectar

Our backyard is musical with hummingbirds - music of their wing songs, their chirps, and cries of alert.

Designed by nature

The count is eight

 The count of wild lovebirds at 

our feeders is EIGHT.

Four females, four males; pairs for life.

 Nick & Nora, Liz & Dick, 

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

 Our mornings are filled with their beauty 

and their crazy chatter.

Love (birds) is (are)  in the air!

The relative cowbird

 We have heard a new bird song in the morning. It is a nice song - strong, "a liquid-sounding series of low gurgling notes followed by thin sliding whistles". It is a unique song. I watched the birds, looking for the one singing those gurgling notes. 

It comes from a brown-headed cowbird. The house finches, goldfinches, sparrows and lovebirds all tolerate this visitor. He seems innocuous enough... but I am not sure I am pleased. 

Cowbirds are brood parasitic birds. They lay their eggs in other birds' nest. Their young are fed and raised by the 'host' parents. If the host 'knocks' the cowbird egg out of the nest, the adult cowbird may/often return to destroy the host's own eggs. 

It "seems that Brown-headed Cowbirds periodically check on their eggs and young after they have deposited them. Removal of the parasitic egg may trigger a retaliatory reaction termed "mafia behavior"." (Hoover, Jeffrey P. &. Robinson, Scott K. (2007). "Retaliatory mafia behavior by a parasitic cowbird favors host acceptance of parasitic eggs". PNAS 104 (11): 4479–4483).

So it seems odd that the other birds at our feeders and in our garden sit along side the cowbirds. They eat side by side, they hop around on the grass together.  They don't fight one another, nor do they scream or dive-bomb each other.

 (Photo above shows a cowbird and a lovebird sharing a tree)

Cowbirds might be like some relatives... drop the kids and run. And I wonder whose behavior came first - the bird's or the relative's? 
You can bet I will be watching bird behaviors more closely now...
 

Back yard gymnastics

Every day, our goldfinches display their gymnastic talents. 
 

Toby has taken lessons, although he has a tendency to doze off in the middle of his stretching routine. 

The smart ones

 Green herons - one of the smallest herons.

Green herons are smart. They eat fish - and these herons first drop a twig into the water. When a fish swims up to the twig, the green heron extends its long neck and GRABS the unsuspecting fish. Green herons aren't as stately as their relatives, the blue herons - but greens sure are smart!

Hiding in plain site

Sleeping in plain site, too.

Puff

This little goldfinch huffed and puffed - 

and then looked around to see who was watching.

Lost in the grass

While walking the dogs yesterday,

 I came across this guy.

A cockatiel.

He was in the company of several doves.

They were all content to peck at the grass, 

ignoring the dogs and me.

Surely someone's lost pet?

I wonder if he knows he is lost. 

I think he thought he was a dove.

 

The morning after the dust blew

The gold finches survived... 

and were accounted for at breakfast!

We live here now

 

The peach-faced lovebirds have moved in. 

They seem comfortable hanging out 

in our backyard 'bird sanctuary'. 

 I have spotted two female and 
two male lovebirds feeding and watching.

Lovebirds are the noisiest birds we have in our garden.

They certainly have that LOUD 'parrot' trait!

We are pleased to introduce you 

to Lovey and Dovey,

 Mr. Duchovny

and Mrs. Duchovny.

A one-way converstaion

 This warm morning, I sat in the gazebo reading a novel.

 Missy Goldfinch dropped in to visit.

 She was very talkative.

 "Really, you are reading?"

 "Abounding in nature, you choose to read?"

 "My beauty and conversation alone should entertain you...."

 "Wait a minute...."

 "Whoa, what is this intruder on my time with you?"

"You have other 'friends' ?"

 "Others who will eat my food?"

"Really, you allow these fakes in your life?"

 "Can YOUR little friend do this? Stand on his head and eat?"

 "You, my dear, surely must see my beauty"

 "My worth is 100 times more than that wooden fake."

 "I have grace, I have a voice."

Love the lovebirds

 Our backyard is a haven for birds.

The feeders get crowded and the birds get bossy. 

But recently we have had some very special guests. 

Peach faced lovebirds have made a re-appearance.

They sit in the tree above the feeder and watch the frenzy. Occasionally they feast. But mostly they screech back and forth - their 'song' as an alert that they visiting. 

  Only three of them have been kind enough to pose for photos. I have named them (top to bottom): 

Lovey, Dovey, and Mr. Duchovny.

(can you spot the third one at the bottom of the photo?)