WILDLIFE OF THE WEEK
Brown thrasher
Nearly a month ago now, I noticed some weird movements in the shrub outside of my office window at the University of Georgia. The bushes dense leaves—a domestic variety of Camellia—made it hard to see much, but every few minutes I would see some quick, jerky motions out of its dark inner branches. On my way home that night, I took a peek inside and found the stick frame of a bird’s nest with the beginnings of a grass-and-pine needle “cup” in the middle. Determined to figure out the culprit behind this exciting development, I came in early the next morning and waited at my office window, then spotted Georgia’s state bird, the Brown thrasher, as it hopped its way furtively to the nest, then threw itself bodily inside and, well, thrashed about inside the nest.
A quick consultation with some ornithologically inclined friends revealed that his behavior is how some birds shape the soft fibers selected for their inner nest into an actual cup shape. Throughout the next couple of days, the male and female thrasher came and went with twigs and bits of grass. By the time I was giving my family a tour around campus the following weekend, a peek at the nest revealed two pale blue eggs!
One of the thrashers, probably the female, was a pleasant companion over the next two weeks at the office, sitting diligently upon the eggs with only a long tail sticking up from inside the tangle of the nest. One day last week there was surprisingly more commotion in the Camellia, and I realized that the chicks had hatched! I have happily watched the chicks grow as both parents come and go—as often as every 2-4 minutes—delivering worms and stinkbugs to hungry little mouths and whisking away droppings to keep the nest clean.
Most recently, I had to run outside when grounds-workers from the university started pruning the Camellia, and although they couldn’t be dissuaded from cutting the shrub because “it looked shaggy”, I at least convinced them to use hand shears and minimize their meddling in the thrasher family’s business. The nest is rather more exposed since the bush was trimmed, however, so I worry about the unwanted gaze of predators like blue jays or crows. We’ll see what the next couple of weeks bring!
Brown thrashers are members of the mockingbird family, Mimidae. They’re vocally impressive birds, handsomely colored, and rather common in suburbs throughout the South, though in my native New England they were something of a rarity. It’s exciting to get such an intimate (literal) window into their every day lives, although in this particularly active time of raising their nestlings, it has been a bit of a distracting form of entertainment.
A brown thrasher perched in a cherry tree. Image by Bernell MacDonald from Pixabay
The nest as I originally spotted it—a dark shape, difficult to spot in the midst of the Camellia’s dark branches.
Two eggs in a completed nest!
The new nestlings, a couple of days old.
The two nestlings about a week later, with pinfeathers coming in. They could open their eyes at this point, and were much more energetic about begging from their parents.
A rather awful shot of one of the parents feeding young at the nest. The grayish object in the lower right is a sticker to make sure songbirds don’t crash into the window.
FIELD NOTE
A gorgeous stretch of creek bed in a diverse Piedmont hardwood forest. A Louisiana waterthrush was singing energetically from a muscadine vine overhanging the water.
A pair of box turtles I encountered shortly after taking the first picture. Bioblitz volunteers found several in our morning rounds, a remarkable number for such a sort survey. These largely terrestrial turtles are adapted to lumber through the forest understory in search of mushrooms and berries, which make them excellent spore- and seed-dispersers.
A Piedmont Bioblitz!
Yesterday, I got to take part in an emerging nature-nerd activity in the 21st century, a Bioblitz. These are short (often one or several days), intensive community science events where volunteers come together to document as much as possible of the biodiversity of an area. The emphasis on “biodiversity” as in, different kinds of anything alive, is key here; bioblitzes are meant to cover all the bases. Fungi, lichens, mammals, birds, insects, you name it. I had been leading and co-developing this bioblitz for several months with colleagues from UGA and a private foundation that wanted to better understand the wildlife of a large tract of land slated for sustainable development in coming years. We decided to organize a bioblitz to get a head start on our biodiversity surveys, and were lucky enough to have splendid weather and over 45 volunteers yesterday to scour the property. Volunteers turned up a remarkable diversity of trees, birds, butterflies, bee species, and exciting creek life including salamanders and crayfish. It was a delightful experience and I am absolutely a bioblitz convert. Looking forward to next year, and any other opportunities that pop up. If you get the chance, I highly recommend taking part in one!
NATURALIST WORD OF THE WEEK
Passerine (n.) - A bird in the songbird order Passeriformes, known for their impressive vocal abilities and complex songs. A distinguishing feature of this group is having a complicated voicebox called a syrinx that, in conjunction with a network of air sacs, enables their remarkable vocal repertoire (including, for some species, the ability to sing multiple notes at once, and therefore self-harmonize).
Want more Gulo in Nature?
▶ Join the Patreon to get your nature questions answered, have personalized consultations, and more!
▶ Buy Charles a coffee to say thanks and keep the nature content coming!
▶ Have a cool recent nature sighting? A burning question? Contact Gulo in Nature and let us know!
▶ Subscribe if you were forwarded this email and want to stay up to date with Gulo in Nature.