Re: Now I know what to call a Cedar Waxwing

Pepperoni wrote:
"Just plain Dusty" <RV-dragger@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote
in news:v9WdnZjPt85mCBjXnZ2dnUVZ_oGdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxx:
....
I didn't see him on the nest. He was no bigger than a starling, and
dark. His shape reminded me of a snipe, with just a hint of long legs.
He'd hang head down an inch from the water with the still
concentration that the adults show. He would hang by his toes on the
side of a concrete wing dam. I expected him to drop in nose first,
but never saw him do so. A couple months later, his legs and neck
were growing fast till he looked like a gangly pullet and his coat
lightened to a tan color. He hunted shallow pools then, as his legs
were long enough to raise him above the water. At the end of summer,
he was brown on top and creamy in throat and breast with just a hint
of green/teal sheen. This year he's tall and slim (much taller).
This year he's showing subdued blue, but a lot of white and cream.
He's healthy and energetic, but not filled out with mature weight yet.
I don't know what birds you thought you were seeing, but what you've
described is pretty well impossible. Birds, as a class of critters, fall
into two distinct groups: precocial and altricial. And yes, there are
degrees of those, but those two descriptions pretty well cover it all.

Precocial means that the young are "precocious" and able to get around and
deal with things themselves--they're born with their eyes open. Chicken,
duck and goose hatchlings fall into that category. Altricial means that
they're as dependent and useless as any newborn human or puppy might
be--and are born with their eyes closed. They're absolutely unable to do
anything except open their mouths to get fed. With a few exceptions (known
as 'branchlings', common in owls) such birds DO NOT leave the nest and grow
up. When most altricial birds leave their nests they're pretty well their
adult size and shape (and often larger due to more fat and
fluff)...although they will fill in/out and get their adult colors over
time.

That's a long way around of saying that you couldn't have seen a "baby"
GBHE (oops, the AOU observers abbreviation for Great Blue HEron) wandering
around and "growing up" as you'd described. And yes, many folks make that
kind of assessment thinking that they're more like children that grow and
mature as independent entities. Instead, you ended up privileged to be
able to watch a variety of birds at various times. Always a wonderful
event...

In a previous life I used to do the annual "rookery watch" for a couple of
local colony nest sites near San Jose for Great Blues, a variety of Egrets,
Bitterns, and so on... Lots of fun! Lots of stink! Got shat on so many
times I started to look like a plasterer coming home...(:-o)! So I have a
bit of a clue whereof I speak...

I saw another sight yesterday About 50 of this years mallards with no
adults in sight. A gaggle of identical little schmoos. People feed
them there every day and they were waiting for the suckers to arrive
with stale bread, donuts and cracked corn.'
Yep. They'll do that as they get older and their parents get fed up with
'em. Got to feed a bunch of guys like that when I wuz playin' park ranger
last year. It's always fun to do, and such a good way to teach children
about respect and care for critters.


L8r all,
Dusty
--
C.H.A.N.G.E. = Communism Helps Another Nation Go Extinct


.

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