Wild Baby Week - Red-bellied woodpecker

I was really hoping that I'd be able to get a good shot of one of the baby red-bellied WPs and had given up hope today when this youngster showed up and helped himself (pretty sure it's a him) to some orange.  This is definitely behavior he learned from his parents!  

There are two pairs of RB woodpeckers with babies right now but the other brood is still being kept well hidden in the trees with the parents carrying food up to them.  The big maple next to our deck is full of babies of various species now - it provides excellent cover from predators and is convenient to the Bistro.  Interestingly, while these woodpeckers are one of the larger species, the babies are incredibly quiet.  No loud, shrill begging from these youngsters - just the softest imaginable little peeps.  When you compare them to the much smaller downy woodpeckers and tufted titmice...well, let's just say that size and volume are necessarily related!

I popped over to see MIL today but she was having a nap and didn't respond to when I kissed her on the cheek, so I figured I'd just let her sleep,  She's 88 - I think she's earned the right to have a nap now and again.

I caught another glimpse of the baby wrens in the garden today but I also found the neighbor's cat laying in the garden which is never good.  I shooed the cat away which is all I can do.  The owner refuses to keep them inside, even during bird breeding season.  Did you know that the #1 cause of death of migratory song birds is... domestic cats.  Yep.  Not wind farms, not pesticides, not window collisions...cats.  The cats can't help it, of course. It's in their nature to hunt even if they aren't hungry, but it is appalling how many baby birds (and adults, for that matter) get taken out by cats every year.  And, yes, I have two cats - but they never go outside.  Can you imagine if I fed birds and had outdoor cats???  

Three more shots of Flickr - the final clutch of 7 house wren eggs from the replacement brood; a pair of bickering catbirds; and a mama House Sparrow feeding one of the kids.  It all starts HERE.

xo
Debbi