Monday, July 9, 2012

Bird Watching: “Is Mrs. Cardinal sitting on eggs?”

My views have changed concerning who is living in a nest hidden in my front yard apricot tree.

Initially, I thought the bird was an immature female cardinal. For example, the head I photographed seemed smaller size than that of an adult. 


And the tail seemed thinner, frailer - in my mind.


Events that occurred yesterday and this morning, however, have changed my mind. For example, yesterday I saw the adult female perched at the edge of the nest and looking down into it. Nothing else stirred. An immature female would likely have popped her head up to be fed, to make herself known, so I thought. And this morning I gently poked the bottom of the nest with a thin branch in order to gauge how sturdy the nest was, and to see if the papers used contained a receipt - for my new Blundstone boots  - that has gone missing. Again, nothing stirred, but for one thing.

[“The boots fit but I should keep the receipt anyway”]

As soon as I raised the stick toward the bottom of the nest an adult female appeared, as if out of nowhere, but likely from a heavily-leafed and nearby branch. She raised the tuft of feathers atop her head and cheeped at me for 60 seconds, but nothing else stirred in the nest.

[“Mrs. C wasn’t happy I'd poked the nest, even very gently”]

The head of the adult female, before she raised her tuft - or the alarm - looked identical to what I had seen earlier in the week. Perhaps I hadn’t seen an immature female after all, I thought.


And the photo of the adult’s tail looks like the earlier photos I’d taken. Same tail? I think so now. I’m not sure though if she is sitting on eggs or an immature bird.

Any thoughts?

Have you ever seen a cardinal’s nest? Do they raid blueboxes to collect receipts and other nesting material?     

[Photos by G.Harrison]

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