Clumsy Juvenile Green-tailed Towhee

Three days ago I spent some time with a ravenously hungry but clumsy juvenile Green-tailed Towhee in the mountains. The lighting was difficult, the setting was busy and in some of my shots ‘his’ head was in shade, or it wasn’t sharp. More about that in a minute.

But who can resist the antics of an awkward and clumsy young bird? Or the intrigue in a photo of a perfectly normal and healthy bird that looks nearly decapitated.

 

1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

I’ll admit, I did a triple take when I first saw this photo and others just like it. At first, second and third glance it looked to me like the bird had spent some time with the headsman at the Tower of London, who had botched the job. There doesn’t seem to be much holding the bird’s head onto his body. Of course it just looks that way because the poor bird is molting, big time.

But it looks so different it even fooled the algorithm of Canon’s animal/eye detection autofocus. Normally in a photo like this one my Canon R5 would place the active focus point on the bird’s eye in an instant. But with the head of this bird looking detached and so ‘different’ (especially with the position of the leaf behind it) my AF point wandered all over the place. So his head isn’t sharp in any of my photos while he was perched here.

The towhee was on a mission at the serviceberry bush. He was hungry and based on his enthusiasm, ravenously so. But he was young and inexperienced so…

 

 

1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

he was like a bull in a china shop as he dove after the berry of his choice.

 

 

1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

He got it in his bill but he was flailing and…

 

 

1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

trying to keep from falling as he…

 

 

1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

held onto the stubborn berry with his bill and his perch with his feet. But eventually the berry let go so…

 

 

1/4000, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

he ended up hanging upside down with the berry in his bill.

 

 

1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 800, Canon R5, Canon EF500mm f/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in

And even after all that, he still had his head.

Ron

 

22 Comments

  1. That first photo is bizarre! The upside down image is so comical.

  2. Arwen Professional Joy Seeker

    Ahhhh the botched beheadings have always fascinated me. Poor Mary Pole, Countess of Salisbury. 11 times to behead her. One might think she was a bit headstrong.

    I’ll see myself out.

  3. Late to a very fun post – photos, your commentary, and comments. He sure is playing an advanced game of “Twister”! Or just letting you know that all his joints work super well – that 90 degree tail forward and back and wings in #9320 and 9322🤣! And the very best optical illusion – his mom must be cringing over his head-popping trick!

  4. Clumsy he ‘might’ have been but he got the berry AND returned (eventually) to an upright position. How many of us would achieve that feat? I wouldn’t.
    The decapitation thing is a tad unnerving to look at on screen.
    Yet another delightful series. Thank you.

  5. Yep, definitely getting some “wives of Henry VIII” vibes here. Poor little molting thing is just trying to get some breakfast — why do those serviceberries have to be so mean? 😉 I was sure that at some point he was going to go ass-over-teakettle, but he managed to stick the landing. Good for him! 💜

    • Marty, he had an assumed sibling in the same bush that was doing the same thing and just as clumsily. I was wishing I could operate two cameras at the same time.

  6. TOO funny! 🙂 There IS a learning curve involved! It certainly does look like he’s partially decapitated – they don’t really have much of a neck it seems….. He will have lots of practice available with that berry crop – glad it’s available for that purpose….

    Looking forward to more family history……

  7. Delightfully fun series. The antics of young birds learning their skills can often be very entertaining. = Unfortunately, we don’t have Green-tailed Towhees west of the Cascades so I seldom get to see them. I know that they have some special meaning to you as does, if I recall correctly, the Tower of London.

  8. Everett F Sanborn

    It’s good to be able to fly when you are barely hanging onto something and that something is unable to hold you any longer.
    Really fun post. I am sure like me, everyone saw that first shot and wondered what severed its head from its body. Very interesting and entertaining series. We have Spotted Towhees everywhere and fairly common Canyon, and we show that we get Green-tailed, but I have never seen one here.

  9. I’m surprised your lens wasn’t shaking from your laughter ! Poor
    guy– he’s working on a heck of a learning curve over his reaching
    maneuvers……and I’ve looked at image #1 numerous times now,
    and it’s STILL reading “Tower of London”–just bizarre !

  10. Michael McNamara

    Wonderful catch Ron. Watching young birds is entertaining. Very often just watching a bird (in particular hawks hunting) you can tell if it is a juvenile.

    Recently a nephew of mine took video using his phone of a Coopers Hawk, in downtown Santa Monica, CA no less, trying to take control of a Rock Dove it got its talons on while being pestered by two Ravens. Seems the Ravens knew what they were looking at too. Yep, it was an immature Coops. Coops are beginning to become more urbanized here in So Cal.

    • Thanks, Michael. I see quite a few more Cooper’s Hawks in the city than I do out of it. And from what I’ve heard, there are far more of them on the east side of the city than there are here in the middle of the valley.

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