A fourth young great horned came in Tuesday, making four great horneds and four barreds, along with some other not-so-common but always adorable babies—read on!
The fourth great horned is technically a brancher but he’s reluctant to fully self-feed and really on the skinny side, so he’ll remain inside for a little while longer.
The fourth great horned is technically a brancher but he’s reluctant to fully self-feed and really on the skinny side, so he’ll remain inside for a little while longer.
The day prior to his arrival, two nests of Carolina wrens came in. One nest, five hatchlings, had been without food for over 24 hours by the time they arrived; two were DOA and the other three didn’t survive the night.
The second nest, four older babies, lost two within three days; the other two seem to be doing well.
Saturday a young nestling probably-phoebe came in; all the sibs were found scattered on the ground dead. This one had such bad bruising on his belly and took so long to finally poop that I really didn’t hold out much hope he’d survive the night, but he’s gaping and peeping and pooping today. He’s sharing a nest with the Carolinas.
Today a nestling house finch came in after falling from what his finders described as a nest 25 feet up in a tree. He’s also sharing a nest with the Carolinas and probably-phoebe.
The mourning dove and female red-phase screech were released; the male red phase refuses to leave and the gray phase male seems to have soft-tissue damage. As I’m about to need the mini-pen for the barred owls pretty quickly, the two screeches will end up coming back inside when the barreds need to go out.
And on the topic of barreds, they’re doing great and growing nicely.
The great horneds in the raptor flight, aka the Three Stooges, are eating well and flying beautifully. Their landing/perching skills, though, are painful to watch. It’s a cacophony of hissing and beak clicking when I go in to feed them, and the older of the three has learned to do an impressive threat display. His first attempt was a bit lacking but by week’s end he had it down quite nicely.
And finally, this week’s cherry-on-the-top intake is...
...wait for it...
...two baby black vultures! I mean, baby-baby. Intake weights were 124g (4.4 oz.) and 156g (5.5 oz.). They literally eat two or three bites of food and pass out. But they’re already, at this young age, giving me that cocked-head assessing stare: “We got your number, lady, and you are SO done when we get a little more mobile.” Yeah, vultures are smart, smart birds. Let the shenanigans commence!
...wait for it...
...two baby black vultures! I mean, baby-baby. Intake weights were 124g (4.4 oz.) and 156g (5.5 oz.). They literally eat two or three bites of food and pass out. But they’re already, at this young age, giving me that cocked-head assessing stare: “We got your number, lady, and you are SO done when we get a little more mobile.” Yeah, vultures are smart, smart birds. Let the shenanigans commence!
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