The Western Kingbirds that nest on the CyFair campus have returned. I saw at least three during my Thursday morning birdwalk.
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Showing posts with label Kingbirds. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kingbirds. Show all posts
Friday, April 25, 2014
Foto Friday
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The Western Kingbirds that nest on the CyFair campus have returned. I saw at least three during my Thursday morning birdwalk.
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The Western Kingbirds that nest on the CyFair campus have returned. I saw at least three during my Thursday morning birdwalk.
.
Friday, July 05, 2013
This Week at CyFair
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On Wednesday I went looking for the young Western Kingbirds in the CyFair parking lots. When I saw that two adult Kingbirds were swooping on two Great-tailed Grackles, I knew that they must be driving the Grackles away in order to protect their young. Sure enough, both young Kingbirds were sheltering in a nearby tree.
While waiting for their parents to oblige,the youngsters passed the time by doing some grooming.
As I headed to my office, three Common Nighthawks crossed the lot, putting on a short but spectacular display of flying.
Later in the day I went back out to see the Kingbirds. One of the young birds was perched in a tree while a parent ferried food to it.
This parent had an interesting approach to feeding its offspring. It would fly to the top of a nearby lamppost and catch a bug. Then it would fly to the tree to feed the bug to its young. After this, it would fly back to the lamppost and catch another bug, but this time would fly to another tree where it would eat the bug itself. It repeated this pattern for well over 20 minutes.
What I really wanted was a clear shot of the adult feeding the youngster. It took 25 minutes but I eventually managed it.
When I left, the youngster seemed to have eaten its fill and parent and offspring had settled down for some quiet time together.
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On Wednesday I went looking for the young Western Kingbirds in the CyFair parking lots. When I saw that two adult Kingbirds were swooping on two Great-tailed Grackles, I knew that they must be driving the Grackles away in order to protect their young. Sure enough, both young Kingbirds were sheltering in a nearby tree.
Like all young birds, they were screaming out for food.
While waiting for their parents to oblige,the youngsters passed the time by doing some grooming.
As I headed to my office, three Common Nighthawks crossed the lot, putting on a short but spectacular display of flying.
Later in the day I went back out to see the Kingbirds. One of the young birds was perched in a tree while a parent ferried food to it.
This parent had an interesting approach to feeding its offspring. It would fly to the top of a nearby lamppost and catch a bug. Then it would fly to the tree to feed the bug to its young. After this, it would fly back to the lamppost and catch another bug, but this time would fly to another tree where it would eat the bug itself. It repeated this pattern for well over 20 minutes.
What I really wanted was a clear shot of the adult feeding the youngster. It took 25 minutes but I eventually managed it.
When I left, the youngster seemed to have eaten its fill and parent and offspring had settled down for some quiet time together.
Thursday, July 05, 2012
CyFair Kingbirds
.As you'll know if you follow this blog, one pair of the Western Kingbirds I've neen watching on the CyFair campus has fledged its chicks. The two young birds now hang out together, waiting for their parents to bring them food. No doubt they will soon be learning to catch their own prey.
The Kingbirds that have nested under the roof of the basketball court have now hatched their eggs. So far, I've only glimpsed one chick.
Last year this pair raised three young; in each of the previous six years they raised four. Given how frequently the adults are bringing food to the nest, I suspect they are again raising several chicks.
I've been trying to get a good photo of the adults carrying away fecal sacs but this is the best I've managed to date.
The normal pattern is for one adult to stay in a tree near the nest while the other parent goes looking for food. The flycatching bird returns to feed the young and then takes over guard duty while the other parent goes off to hunt. However, very occasionally both parents spend time together at the nest.
I'm looking forward to when chicks start to venture out of the nest to explore the roof beam and so become more visible. It shouldn't be long now!
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The Kingbirds that have nested under the roof of the basketball court have now hatched their eggs. So far, I've only glimpsed one chick.
Last year this pair raised three young; in each of the previous six years they raised four. Given how frequently the adults are bringing food to the nest, I suspect they are again raising several chicks.
I've been trying to get a good photo of the adults carrying away fecal sacs but this is the best I've managed to date.
The normal pattern is for one adult to stay in a tree near the nest while the other parent goes looking for food. The flycatching bird returns to feed the young and then takes over guard duty while the other parent goes off to hunt. However, very occasionally both parents spend time together at the nest.
I'm looking forward to when chicks start to venture out of the nest to explore the roof beam and so become more visible. It shouldn't be long now!
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Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Nesting Western Kingbirds
.Since returning from our trip to the Lower Rio Grande Valley, I've been interested in watching the progress of the two pairs of Western Kingbirds that are nesting on the CyFair campus.
The pair that has nested under the roof of the college basketball court for the past 8 years is back there this year. At the moment the female is still sitting on the nest.
The other pair nested in a tree in the parking lots and they have made much faster progress. For a couple of weeks I enjoyed watching the adults bringing food to the nest, which had two young.
The youngsters grew surprisingly quickly.
The adults at this site were much more aware of my presence than the pair at the basketball court has been in past years. I imagine this is because their nest is only 15 feet from the ground and therefore more exposed than the one high in the roof of the basketball court.
One young bird was still in the nest at the end of last week.
However, when I checked Monday morning, the nest was empty. The parents have moved their two juveniles to a location high in a nearby tree.
As the adults seemed agitated when I went over to the tree, I suspect that they will now move their young to another tree.
I can't wait to see how the other pair fares. They raised four young every year until last year, when they raised only three, perhaps because we were in a drought and so the food supply may have been reduced. It will be interesting to see how many they raise this time.
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The pair that has nested under the roof of the college basketball court for the past 8 years is back there this year. At the moment the female is still sitting on the nest.
The other pair nested in a tree in the parking lots and they have made much faster progress. For a couple of weeks I enjoyed watching the adults bringing food to the nest, which had two young.
The youngsters grew surprisingly quickly.
The adults at this site were much more aware of my presence than the pair at the basketball court has been in past years. I imagine this is because their nest is only 15 feet from the ground and therefore more exposed than the one high in the roof of the basketball court.
One young bird was still in the nest at the end of last week.
However, when I checked Monday morning, the nest was empty. The parents have moved their two juveniles to a location high in a nearby tree.
As the adults seemed agitated when I went over to the tree, I suspect that they will now move their young to another tree.
I can't wait to see how the other pair fares. They raised four young every year until last year, when they raised only three, perhaps because we were in a drought and so the food supply may have been reduced. It will be interesting to see how many they raise this time.
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