The other day I enjoyed a morning of watching a family of Blue Jays on what seems to be their first day out of the nest. They were a raucous crowd of 5 or so young ones (Blue Jays lay 5-6 eggs so it looked like all of them were accounted for).
The first thing that alerted me to their presence was their incessant calling. Actually whining is more like it.
What a face!
What was interesting to observe was that the young were not feeder-ready yet. They hung out only in the trees or an occasional trip to the birdbath or deck, but they didn't attempt a feeder landing. It was as if mom and dad told them to go to the trees, wait for them, and DON'T leave! Here's two young ones following directions.
Here's some features I noticed to help identify these as fledgling Blue Jays:
Beak is pinkish, not black, and is shorter in length
Clumsy landings
Wing quiver & crying when parent approaches
Crest not fully developed; downy look to some feathers
Just think - this will go on for the next 2-3 weeks! I'll need to turn my Nature's Window speaker off if I want to get anything done!
Gwendolen - thanks much and thanks for visiting!
Posted by: The Zen Birdfeeder | July 03, 2009 at 03:33 PM
Like baby humans, they are beyond cute when little. Great photo and series.
Posted by: Wren | July 03, 2009 at 03:28 PM
The shot of the baby landing on the bird bath is just awesome! Lovely series of these little fledglings.
Posted by: gwendolen | July 03, 2009 at 01:55 PM
Chad - "gonna be"? Already ARE. Thanks for stopping by.
Posted by: The Zen Birdfeeder | June 30, 2009 at 02:21 PM
Too cute. Watching the fledglings is so much fun. I bet they are going to be a handful when they get bigger.
Posted by: Chad | June 26, 2009 at 09:57 PM
LNMP - Thanks, glad it was a helpful post for you. BIG whiny babies those jays are!
Alison - We like to watch bird babies almost as much as human babies!
Lisa Jo - thanks and thanks for visiting.
Posted by: The Zen Birdfeeder | June 26, 2009 at 09:44 PM
cute!
Posted by: lisa lo | June 25, 2009 at 12:00 AM
Beautiful photos. I just love birds, especially the young ones. My kids tease me about it sometimes - I can't resist those babies :-)
Posted by: Alison Kerr | June 24, 2009 at 11:52 PM
Great pictures! I never even noticed some of these features; I usually identify the young ones by the wing quivers and incessant begging. Those jay babies are whiners, all right! :)
Posted by: LNMP | June 24, 2009 at 03:16 PM