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July 27, 2009
Today, I noticed that a pair of cardinals in our chokecherry bush was hanging around for what seemed to me to be a very long time for a pair, or even single adult bird.
I left them alone for about thirty minutes and came back to the yard to relax and observe. I heard the short chirps and whistles between the pair and noticed them hopping around in our ash tree, still together. They jumped from branch to branch, making their tiny noises to each other... single chirp, then double chirp, single chirp, then double chirp...
After a few minutes, they both took the short flight back toward the chokecherry, then immediately to our red maple (which is slightly closer than the ash tree) - followed by a scrappy, young chick, flapping its little wings very, very hard. I was amazed and impressed to see such an immature looking cardinal able to fly so well!
I peeked into the tree to get a closer look. The little chick was gray and fuzzy except for some firmer wing feathers. There were no visible crest nor tail feathers yet, and its shape was not very streamlined. It also only called out to its parents if they were very near.
Over the several minutes that I watched, the parents repeatedly left the chick to slowly circle the perimeter of the backyard via short flights and hops through tree branches. The male followed the female and they continued to communicate with each other in short chirps, staying close to each other while moving clockwise around the yard with their chick's tree in the middle. Mom & Pop were never more than about a hundred feet away from Baby. They seemed to be tempting it to try to practice flying some more, the way human parents might coax a toddler to take steps toward them.
I am constantly amazed at the abundance of life attracted to and provided for by our little native oasis, especially when there are a few minutes to pay attention. Which animals are bringing up baby in your yard?
~ Benia
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