ML95496531

Age and sex

Juvenile, Unknown sex - X

Observation details

This bird probably jumped/fell from its nest sometime between Monday and Wednesday. It was seen last night by several people, and demonstrated lots of defensive behavior. It's a bit small for a fledgling, but not unexpected for an early brancher. I've had about three years of bird rehab experience so I biked over in the snow to check on the chick. It had managed to clamber up on a log, which was good, but it acted very lethargic. It barely clacked its bill three times when I came up to it and mostly slumped on the log. Its outer feathers were rather wet from the snow and rain, and it sat hunched up. It was holding a well-chewed pinecone in its claw. Tried to eat it? I usually stay far away from owls, but I came closer than normal to check its activity and health. No pellets were seen near it. I sent photos to a rehabber who said that the chick isn't abnormally young for fledging. Their advice was to wait and see what happens. The Cornell undergrads will be checking on it every day or so. There's at least one coyote in the vicinity, because we found some very fresh and chewed bones with a DOG shock collar tangled in them last Friday. Hopefully the bird will be ok!

Technical information

Model

DMC-FZ200

ISO

100

Focal length

15.5 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire, auto

f-stop

f/2.8

Shutter speed

0.01 sec

Dimensions

4000 pixels x 3000 pixels

Original file size

4.46 MB