Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Bird bath soap opera

It's been ridiculously hot, which means the outside birds have appreciated our bird bath.

I'm pretty sure this was a baby mourning dove:
A few minutes later, there was a robin:
And then a grackle, bathing:
Two robins; one bathing, the other waiting her turn:
I think this is a grackle, coming in for a landing?  Or maybe taking off?:
One robin on the bird bath; another waiting her turn on the ground:
This little guy had the skinniest legs ever!  I'm thinking maybe a juvenile?
This baby was hanging out on the patio, trying to decide whether or not to bathe:
It was worth the effort to fly up! As you'll see, she stuck around for a long time:
Adult robin and baby robin.  I imagine they are trying to scare the other one off so they can have the bird bath to themselves!  The baby appears to be the aggressor here:
And the adult responds:
Perhaps a peaceful understanding has been reached:
But then, a female house finch appears!
She needs a drink, as the robins continue to hang out in the water:
Three robins and a house finch!
Someone coming in for a landing -- based on the next picture, I think it's another robin:
Because now there's three robins again, and the house finch is back!  (I double checked the order of these photos and it's correct):
Back to two wet robins:
I really need to get one of those motion-activated cameras.  So interesting to watch!

Later, we noticed a mourning dove near our patio:
She kept holding her wing up, like this:
I was going to call the wildlife center if she was still doing this, but 30 minutes later, she'd gone.  Maybe just stretching?  Her wing did not always stay like this, as you can see from the first picture.  I read that they will sometimes do this to distract predators from their nest and/or young, but I didn't see any evidence of that at all.  Interesting.

5 comments:

Elizabeth said...

What a party!

The raised wing looks just like what birds do when they're distracting predators. I've never seen doves do it (although they're known to) but Kildeers act the same exact way.

I also read once that cardinals do that as part of a mating ritual.

phonelady said...

I miss my birdbath and my yard . I loved the birds coming and bathing and it was awesome . Im so glad the birds came and enjoyed and gave you such a show .

Wildbird said...

Did you take this photo on a sunny day as some birds do this as a form of sun bathing. Also, if there is a sprinkler in the area, this pose is a way to get some water in difficult areas of the body.

Scritches.com said...

This is fabulous, Mary!

bird cages said...

That is a very active bird bath.