Abert's Towhee Baby

It's 'What's for Dinner'... a juicy green worm and a couple of crane flies.

This baby Abert's Towhee is newly out of the nest and very hungry. He was born in our lilac vine bush and that's his problem.

Both his parents provide him plenty of food, but he's trapped here in our backyard.

Abert's Towhees are mainly birds of Arizona's Sonoran Desert. They don't migrate and they stay close to their home territory all year long. They are ground-dwelling birds of brushy areas.

But people live here, too, and there are a lot of people.  People build fences around their homes. Fences keep out javelinas and coyotes, but fences are a baby bird's dilemma.

If your 'steel' fence could let a rattlesnake through, people put up an additional 'snake fence' to keep rattlesnakes out.

When a baby towhee is born behind one of these snake fences he's trapped.

Mom and Dad can easily fly over the fence, but it's tough on the little ones.

His parents perch nearby with plump treats encouraging baby to come. But he can't do it.

He flutters and claws, but runs out of energy half way up the fence.

It's only an eighteen inch wire barrier, but he's only weeks old and can't make the climb.

He drops down to find another way.

A parent offers food from the other side.

His nature is to hide, but that won't solve his problem. He looks again to join his parents.

(Click any picture to enlarge)

With perseverance and diligence he finds a seam in the fence.

With wing and claw he pushes, squeezes and struggles through into the desert beyond.

Freedom!

Allan



Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds

Birds in the Rain

Living 24/7 in the elements has its drawbacks.

The few and far between rains have made this bird's hunt more difficult.

The bedraggled juvenile Cooper's Hawk landed in our backyard rather wet and somewhat dejected after an unsuccessful attack on the Mourning Dove flock.

All animals must deal with the elements. Whether they get stressed by the rain is uncertain.

Curve-billed Thrashers only live in a dry environment where rains are rare.

Luckily, he doesn't have to put up with this indignity that often.

Too much or too little rain doesn't faze a Cactus Wren.

The Cactus Wren rarely drinks water. Instead s/he gets all his water requirements from the insects he eats.

Rain is a threat for the Broad-billed Hummingbird though. At 0.12 ounce, a hail stone could remove this tiny bird from the picture.

Resting on a thorn in the open, this one is making the best of a wet situation.

The Abert's Towhee in a dry land, ground dwelling bird. Pairing up for life to sing in the desert underbrush, they survive on insects and seeds. Slippery rocks won't phase them either.

Hear their sweet song at:  https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Aberts_Towhee/

As for the wet Cooper's Hawk, s/he might make a meal of any of the previously mentioned birds, with the possible exception of the Broad-billed Hummingbird. There's just not enough there to make that effort.

Six or seven hours later in the afternoon sunshine, he had dove for dinner.

Allan
(Click any picture to enlarge)
Credits: Cornell Lab of Ornithology, All About Birds
The Sibley's Guide to Birds