Two perspectives.
I tried to go shooting yesterday morning but as I mentioned in yesterday’s post unfortunate circumstances in Parley’s Canyon put the kibosh on my plans. While I was driving I learned of a major accident that was backing up traffic so I had to make a snap decision just before I entered the mouth of the canyon – take a chance and continue anyway or take the last available exit to avoid a potential traffic jam in the canyon and head back home. I chose the latter and it’s a damn good thing I did because I-80 in the canyon quickly became a parking lot for more than four hours.
Ron Dudley in that kind of traffic for that long would not have been a pretty sight. Occasionally I do make the right decision but in this case it means another day of older photos for Feathered Photography.
I’m always interested in the prey of my avian subjects and on this morning on the perimeter of one of my Montana campsites Savannah Sparrows were giving me a field day with the insects they were catching. They were hunting in the grass near a wooden fence and then using the fence as a stopping-off point before delivering the insects to their chicks in their nests.
Their bug loads tended to be large and varied and this one was a doozy in both regards. I wanted an even better look at the insects in its beak and the sparrow obliged.
This is a different photo of the same bird with the same load of bugs. I was so close to the bird my depth of field was very shallow so the sparrow isn’t very sharp but the bugs sure are. Talk about a colorful and mixed bag for a meal. It appears to be a mouthful of various aquatic insects, both larvae and adults, along with some plant debris.
For me the appeal of photos like these is at least as much about the insects as it is about the bird. The casual observer in the field almost never gets such a good look at the insect prey of birds and I like being one of the few exceptions.
I’m thinking that at least some of my viewers might feel the same way.
Ron
I am fairly good in traffic jams IF I have an audiobook going. My husband is the polar opposite.
And he thinks three cars at the traffic light is a traffic jam! LOL
That is a rich and varied diet. I suspect that the poor sparrow HAS to cram its beak to keep the offspring (very temporarily) satisfied.
I strongly suspect you’re right, EC.
She’s a lovely Savannah Sparrow and that’s a stupendous supply of dragonflies and caterpillar, if Ron T is correct (I have no reason to doubt)! Imagine doing that over and over again, daily, for however many weeks it takes to get the babies out of the nest. Including parasitic ones. Great post — another to remind us that birds are unbelievably strong for all their fragility.
Thanks, Chris. I also think Ron T is probably correct.
I follow your blog daily and appreciate all your efforts and wonderful images. Like you, I’m addicted to nature photography and have really gotten interested in photographing dragonflies and damselflies over the last couple of years. I’m by no means an odonate expert, but it looks like this sparrow has captured 3 medium-size dragonflies and one caterpillar. The coloration of at least two of the dragonflies (especially the one closest to the tip of its bill) looks like they might have recently emerged from their nymphal stage. While in this “teneral” stage, they are very vulnerable to predation for perhaps 30 to 60 minutes (depending on species), which may explain “her” hunting prowess. I wonder if she captured them individually, set them aside while catching others, and then gathered them all up to take them to her chicks. This would seem easier (though risking theft) than catching them one by one until her beak was full. Perhaps you or your viewers have watched this process and can enlighten me.
Ron, I appreciate your input on the insects. I suspect others will too.
From what I observed I don’t think they were setting the insects aside while catching others. They seem to be very adept at gathering multiple insects in their bills without losing any of them.
Very appealing shot of the Sparrow on the tilting fenced post and all green, but subtly shaded background. I think there are all major food groups in there plus the twig for added fiber.
Thanks, Lyle. Sounds like you were a nutritionist/dietician in an earlier life… 🙂
Really like the close up of both the sparrow and the smorgasbord of insects! These poor parents are so busy feeding those gaping mouths. I was watching four barn swallows clinging to a branch waiting for food. Every bird that flew by must have been thought of as a parent…mouths were wide open and wings trembling until they realized it wasn’t mom and looked dejected. Keeps the parents busy all day.
Kathy, you describe the reactions of immature swallows to the possibility of food very accurately. That’s a situation I love to photograph.
Love the Sparrow and its prey – wow! And grateful you had time to turn away from the accident traffic. There’s often (for me) what seems like a split second of time to decide – and so grateful when I make the right choice. I am loving your photos and your narrative. Thanks
That’s about what I had, Noel – a split second of time. In those situations it’s nice to make the right choice once in a while.
How does a bird open its beak to get another bug without dropping the others?
I wish I knew, Mary but many bird species seem to be very good at it.
Puffins are excellent at it with slippery fish. This from Audubon about puffins: “The average catch is around 10 fish per trip but the record in Britain is a whopping 62 fish at once!”
Good judgement getting out of that traffic nightmare. Brings back memories of my 30 years working in the L.A. area. Excellent photos. Maybe one of your followers is an entomologist and can tell us what those bugs are. That sparrow is certainly very adept at collecting them.
Everett, 30 years working in L.A. means that you had more tolerance than I could ever muster. In the 50’s and early 60’s we lived in the Escondido/Poway area for much of every year and back then traffic wasn’t bad in that area. But even then L.A. was usually a traffic nightmare.
That is a mouthful and a variety for sure! Like feeding teenage boys! 😉 Don’t know how they make it with a cowbird chick to deal with also……. Glad you didn’t get caught in the freeway “parking lot”.
New challenge here – a Raven or Crow has been coming in the yard raiding nests. 🙁 One airborne they’re “on it” BUT!
“Like feeding teenage boys”
That’s a good analogy, Judy. In my early teenage years I couldn’t get enough to eat and my feet were growing even faster than everything else. Couldn’t keep me in shoes…
Choose at least one color from each of the five different bug groups to get a wide range of nutrients 🙂
That’s quite a color palette in the insects isn’t it Terri.
Lovely bug catch!
I got a similar pics (although not as sharp as yours Ron) of Juncos catching bugs for their chicks last week. It’s amazing what a parent bird will stuff down the throat of their chicks, sometimes leaving the chicks with long insectoid legs sticking out of their beaks when they close their mouths. I’ve seen the same with Nuthatches and Chickadees too.
Good stuff Ron!
Thanks Rick, I’m glad you appreciate shots like these.
I should have mentioned in my post that some of these sparrows were feeding cowbird chicks whose parents had parasitized their nests. Even a gob if insects like this one wouldn’t have filled up one of those ‘giant’ cowbird chicks.