ML621178115

Età e sesso

Juvenile, sesso sconosciuto - 2

Dettagli dell'osservazione

*Spent over 90 minutes watching an Eastern Kingbird family of 3 fledglings and 1 adult. The fledglings were for the most part perched in the open in bushes, and over the course of my watch the (lone) adult probably delivered between 30 and 40 food deliveries (I wish I had counted but didn't expect them to remain visible for so long). The fledglings could fly short distances around the bushes, but not yet at the age where they even thought about feeding themselves. All but one food delivery fell into two categories: dragonflies and fruit/berries (also once a small insect sp.). Every dragonfly I was able to see before it was down the gullet was a Blue Dasher (Pachydiplax longipennis), both males and females. The adult brought 6 berry deliveries that I saw, one of which was dropped by the fledgling. Probably about 1 berry for every 8-10 dragonflies. On one occasion I watched as the parent caught a blue dasher and perched on a nest box, and since it didn't eat it right away, I got ready for the photo op (hoping to get it feeding the fledglings), but then it flew out and caught a second blue dasher while still holding the first, and brought both to feed two fledglings, one after the other (caught that on video too)! I also saw the adult catch and eat dragonflies for itself in the middle of its foraging runs. The three fledglings were identifiable, as one (appears the youngest) has a crossed bill at the tips. Another bird has a damaged tail feather that sticks out, and these two birds spent a while huddled together. The parent would stop and preen fairly often, and the fledglings would take the opportunity to get some shut-eye, especially with dusk approaching. The fledglings were exploring their surroundings a bit, pecking at twigs and lichen, and also each other! I saw Crossbill pecking at another's tail feathers, and Tailfeather later returned the favor by pecking Crossbill in the face, dangerously close to its eyes, and also grabbing its nape. Learning how to be kingbirds right off the bat!

Informazioni tecniche

Modello

NIKON Z 6_2

Lenti

AF-S NIKKOR 500mm f/5.6E PF ED VR

ISO

4000

Lunghezza focale

700 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/8.0

Velocità otturaore

1/800 sec

Dimensioni

4795 pixels x 3190 pixels

Dimensione originale file

6.63 MB