Kingfishers, Cowbirds, and Catbirds

A male and female Belted Kingfisher were seen in the Wetlands on the 16th of June. A lone female was seen on the 20th & 21st of June. A single male on 28 June.

On June 17th, I witnessed a Song Sparrow with an apparent injured leg (it was hopping along on one leg as it foraged in the leaf litter) feeding a fledgling Brown-headed Cowbird. Quite a feat for this injured sparrow to be tending to another bird’s offspring twice its own size. This is the third species of bird that I’ve witnessed parenting a Brown-headed Cowbird this season. The other foster parents were Eastern Towhee and Pine Warbler.

Gray Catbird sitting in a Baldcypress

At this time, Gray Catbird seems to be the most commonly observed species of bird on the Explore the Wild and Catch the Wind Loop. The two pictured here were twenty feet from one another “meowing” at each other, one in a Baldcypress, the other on a post of the boardwalk leading down into the Wetlands.

gd_6_16_09grca2

An Indigo Bunting was heard and seen in front of the Lemur House on 28 June.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.