A rare visitor and entertaining fledglings delight local birders

When people become more than casual birders, they often begin keeping a list of the different bird species they have seen. These lists can be registered with an organization such as eBird, which keeps track of the number of species on a person’s “life list.” Some birders travel frequently to reach places with new species; others try to increase their lists with as many local birds as possible.

If a bird appears that is unusual for an area and a birder is lucky enough to see it, word will often go out to birding enthusiasts to let them know where it is so that they can view the rare visitor, too. In July, I was the lucky person to spot such a bird — a glossy ibis. These birds are rarities in central North Carolina; the one I saw at a local pond was only the fifth one to have been registered officially in Orange County.

Top left and right: Glossy ibis deciding where to forage. Bottom: Glossy ibis inserting its beak far into the pond mud looking for food. All photos by ©Maria de Bruyn.

It is not unusual to see a glossy ibis in a wet agricultural field or near a pond or marsh. Their dietary preferences are quite broad, ranging from beetles, flies, dragonflies, fish and worms to reptiles such as snakes and lizards. They also eat crops such as rice and sorghum.

This type of ibis is known to be gregarious, often foraging in company with others of their kind as well as wading birds such as egrets. So, seeing one on its own raised the question of whether it had been blown off course during a storm. As far as I know, the ibis stayed only one day at the pond where it was spotted.

In the same area where the ibis was attracting attention, a few other avian families were raising their young. Eastern meadowlarks and red-winged blackbirds had nests in a grassy field next to the pond; the nests were very difficult to see as the grass was quite tall.

In one tree next to the pond, however, a pair of Eastern kingbirds had chosen to build a nest at the end of a branch where the brooding mother could be easily seen. When the two eggs finally hatched, the babies stayed far down in the nest so that their development was difficult to monitor. And the birders stayed far from the nest so as not to disturb the parents and nestlings. The parent birds are very vigilant and will confront predators with a raised crown of yellow, orange or red feathers (which I have never seen yet) while dive-bombing the intruder with an open red mouth.

Top left: Eastern kingbird mother with young baby in nest. Top right: Eastern kingbird parent perched next to one fledgling while the other gazes up at them from below left.
Bottom left and right: Fledgling begging for food and parent providing a large insect. All photos by ©Maria de Bruyn.

When the babies fledged (left the nest), enthusiastic bird watchers could see them as they began begging loudly for food and flexing their wings, getting ready for the day when they would be able to take flight. (Even after that, they will continue asking for food as their parents feed them for about seven weeks.) That is when my long-distance camera lens came in handy because it was possible to photograph them (unless they perched behind some leaves) as they moved around.

All photos: Eastern kingbird fledgling getting ready for first flight. It flapped its wings vigorously for about 10 minutes and then took a tiny leap, catching the next branch over successfully. It looked satisfied! All photos by ©Maria de Bruyn.

The growing fledglings were delightful to watch. Whenever a parent came into sight, they would open their beaks wide so that the food could be dropped in. If the other baby got a meal, the second one waiting would keep its beak open to drive home the message that it wanted food, too. I didn’t get to see them take their first actual flights but did get to see one baby use its wings to propel itself from a lower to a higher branch. The next time I visited the pond, the baby birds had moved on.

The open-mouthed stance is used by most baby birds to let their parents know they are hungry. Even after fledging, a baby will continue begging for meals, even if they have learned to forage themselves. I even see this at my feeders; the Eastern bluebird babies can easily pick up mealworms or seeds from a feeder but will nevertheless perch on a feeder pole begging their parents to feed them.

On one walk at a local park, it was interesting to see a bluebird parent fly over to a baby with a rather large insect. The young one begged and the parent gave it the meal. However, the bug was so big that the little one had trouble closing its mouth around it, so the parent had to help it out by pushing the insect down its throat.

Top photo: Eastern bluebird parent arrives with a large insect meal. Middle photo: Parent bird presents the meal to the baby. Bottom photo: Parent bird had to push the insect down the baby’s throat as it had trouble swallowing it. All photos by ©Maria de Bruyn

The little bluebird was lucky that its parent was finding meals. Now that our area has had so much rain and flooding, quite a few birds will have lost some of their foraging areas and bounty. Much vegetation has been destroyed, and ground-living insects, bugs and mammals such as voles and chipmunks will have drowned. Not only did that impact the populations of those creatures but it also lessened the nutritional options for many birds. 

Hopefully, the weather will allow some recuperation. And those of us who can provide some extra sustenance for our avian friends (e.g., mealworms, seed, fruit) will likely see many winged visitors who are happy with a handout.