Life in the Wild

Sammy seems to be adjusting well and enjoying life in the wild the last couple days.  He's been showing up around 7 in the mornings and having his breakfast of mealworms. Yesterday, he gaped for me to feed him, just like he would have begged his bluebird parents for 3-4 weeks after fledgling.

Sitting on the eaves

Doing some preening

Tenley, my 3 year old grand-daughter is here for a few days, and when she came outside for the first time yesterday morning, Sammy was perched on a rope and flew right down to her, sitting comfortably on her shoulder and chest for quite awhile.  It's been over two weeks since he has seen Tenley, but I'm positive he remembers her.  She was so thrilled that he came to her all on his own and had a cuddle with her.  She simply adores him and I truly believe this love is reciprocated by Sammy.

Late this morning, Frank saw Sammy sitting on our ATV in the parking area, so he took him over some mealworms.  He was gobbled down about 15 mealworms and a spider, he must have been very hungry.  It's got to be hard work learning to locate and catch food, and unfortunately he doesn't have his parents to watch and learn from.  After filling his belly, he hopped onto Frank's finger, so he walked around the house throughout the yard with Sammy.  He said he was showing him around, lol. When they reached the feeding platform, he had to nudge Sammy off his finger onto the platform, he didn't want to leave Frank.  I think he's looking for companionship, which he would have had from his bluebird siblings if they had survived.

Baths are still enjoyed by him, he gave himself a good soaking both days, then flew into one of the beeches on our lawn to preen his feathers just so.  I've got my regular bird bath placed close to the feeding platform where his shallow bath from his aviary is, I'm hoping he will discover it and start using it instead.

He seems to really like the 3 ropes Frank strung up between our trees and the porch post and uses them as hunting perches often.  I'm hoping to get some pictures of this in the next few days.  He also has been up on the eaves of the house, catching bugs sometimes, but mostly just sitting snug against the house, almost like he's trying to hide.

Looking for bugs

Sammy hangs out in this corner often

Sammy doesn't seem to like our white-breasted nuthatches very much, he's chased them quite a few times off the seed feeders and over the pond into the edge of the woods.  So far, these are the only birds we've seen him chase.  I wonder if he instinctively knows they are a competitor for available nesting cavities for Eastern Bluebirds?  Watching him pursue them is fascinating, they both weave so quickly between the trees.  The nuthatches zigzag at a very fast pace and Sammy stays right behind them, dead on course like a guided missile.  We're amazed Sammy or the nuthatches haven't crashed headfirst into a tree!

Late this evening, Sammy came down for a meal and ate another 15 or so mealworms, 2 black beetles and a big black ant that I had caught for him earlier in the day.  Quite a big meal for this little bird, although we have seen him catch his own food, maybe it hasn't been quite enough for him.  After his meal, he did about half an hour of ground hunting on our stone laneway, catching and eating several small brown ants.  Eastern Bluebirds hunt several different ways including:  

- diving to the ground from a perch to catch their prey, then returning to the perch with it

- ground feeding, like American Robins, although they tend to hop along the ground rather than run like robins, cocking their heads to find their prey

- aerial hunting, which involves swooping off a perch to grab prey in mid-air, often hovering over it

- gleaning insects from leaves, branches and trunks of trees.

Sammy settled for the night at 8:50pm, in the beech tree beside the laneway again. He perched on the same branch in the same spot as the previous couple nights, concealed under a canopy of protective leaves.

Today, Sammy is 47-48 days old and surviving.

Hunting Skills Improving

Catching moths has become quite the art form for Sammy, he does really well at catching them in the air and also off the screen walls of the aviary.  His hunting skills continue to improve every day, and he is successful more times than not.  I still help him hunt sometimes, by placing his insects in front of him on his feeding platform, like the green caterpillars in this video.

Spiders, beetles and big black ants seem to be a favourite of his over the last few days.  He even caught a small spider in the house on the windowsill.

Here's a quick video of Sammy catching a spider.

I keep the curtains closed over the top half of the windows in our room where he gets indoor flight time, and the bottom half of the window is open to the screens.  This way Sammy can still watch the world outside, which he seems to love doing, while avoiding flying into hard glass accidentally.

Morning and evening indoor flight time is getting stronger and stronger, he now flies the length of our bedroom 2 or 3 times before deciding to perch somewhere, usually one of the curtain rods or a window sill.

Sammy "hiding" from the Blue Jay family

Cuddle-time before bed is still going on, and still initiated by Sammy.  I don't call him to me or encourage him in any way to land on me.  And I've decided that as long as he wants or needs to, I'm going to let him continue.  I know some people say that we can't and shouldn't attach feelings to birds or animals, but I don't believe that.   This little guy is actively seeking out my companionship and wanting (needing?) to be physically close to me.  I believe I would do him more harm by refusing him this contact, than in continuing to allow him to have it, but only when he chooses to do so. Almost every living creature needs some kind of contact with another living creature throughout their lives, at one time or another - for Sammy, I'm all he's got for now.  On a lighter note, I truly enjoy the time he spends pressed up against my neck or under my ponytail.  It's so peaceful, calming and heartwarming enjoying this little bird's affections, and I am grateful he has triumphantly made it this far.

Sammy is now 38-39 days old.

Hunting Beetles

Sammy has become quite the hunter during the past couple of days.  He has been flying down from perches catching and eating grasshoppers on the ground.  He holds one in his beak for a couple seconds at a time, then drops it, picks it up again, shakes it a bit, holds it, drops it and repeats this process until he decides it's ready to be swallowed whole.  He seems to prefer the smaller, green grasshoppers over the bigger brownish ones.

He has caught a few moths in his aviary either on the ground or on his feeding platform, holding them and dropping them as well before he eats them.  I catch moths at night under the porch lights and release them in his aviary in the morning. And, of course, he stills loves his mealworms!

And new for him, he now "hunts" black ground beetles.  These I find under rocks for him and place them on his feeding platform or on the ground for him to hunt.  Today, he saw one on the grass, flew down, caught it and beat it up before he ate it.

Here are a couple of videos showing off Sammy's beetle hunting skills.

So although he is becoming quite the little hunter, he is still quite the little beggar!  When I enter his aviary, he quivers his wings, leans forward, cheeps and gapes wide open for a free meal.  What a cutie!

Sammy is still enjoying his baths, he gets himself totally drenched and then meticulously preens his feathers.  He's also been drinking water during the day.

Sammy relaxing on my shoulder

Cuddle time before "bed" happened again last night.  His choice, and I still believe if that is what he needs/wants - company, companionship and comfort - then who was I to deny him?  He nestled right in against my neck and sat there quietly for about 15 minutes before I put him to bed for the night.

I put a sideways kleenex box, with the "entrance" side completely cut out, in a corner of his indoor cage, lined with a few kleenexes.  Eastern Bluebirds are known to roost in cavities and even nestboxes, and I thought he might like sleeping in it.  I placed him in it at lights out last night and this morning, he was still in there when I uncovered his cage.  Sammy had a good long stretch before he hopped out of the kleenex box, then he perched on the opening of his cage for a few seconds before flying out and landing on my shoulder.  He must have liked the kleenex box to roost in, maybe the shelter it provides him, it gave him a feeling of security too.

Today, Sammy is 33-34 days old.

Blue Jays and Black Bears

This morning, a very loud family of 5 Blue Jays came to help themselves to the bird feeders near Sammy's aviary.  The fledglings wing quivered, shook and cawed/screamed incredibly loud chasing their parent(s) branch to branch for handouts.  I don't think Sammy likes Blue Jays very much, he seemed to look nervous and sat very still while intently watching them. Either that, or he just thought they were loud and annoying, disturbing his sunny, quiet morning.  One of them landed on top of his aviary and peered inside, which made Sammy promptly fly to one of his sheltered perches to "hide".  Our other small songbirds fly away when a Blue Jay comes in, so it's good that he seems to know he should fly away and take cover.  As far as I know, they don't harm or attack other birds, although they have been known to occassionally steal and eat other songbird eggs and even nestlings.

A few times today, I've seen Sammy feeding himself mealworms from his dish, although he continues to beg and wing quiver to be fed, like a typical fledgling.  He's also been spending some time on the ground pecking and eating ants and who knows what else.  How he can see those tiny little brown ants from up on his perch is beyond me, amazing eyesight he has.  He also successfully hunted a cricket he spied on the grass.  He still likes to land me on often, I guess he thinks I'm another one of his perches.

Here he is checking out his cedar branches.

We had a black bear in the backyard this evening, just strolling along a few feet from the back porch. We are in bear country and ususally see one a couple times at least every spring and summer.  This past spring, the bear pulled down my bird feeder pole and ate all the seeds.  My own fault for forgetting to bring them in for the night, something we have to do in every season except winter.  The bears wake up hungry in the spring, and bird feeders are such an easy meal for them.

Today, Sammy is 30-31 days old.

Eating red elderberries and cuddle time

What are you lookin' at??

Sitting pretty

Sammy, the male Eastern Bluebird fledgling, has found a new food he likes:  red elderberries!  Most of his attempts at pulling them of the stem were successful, but a few slipped out of his beak.  He was very interested in them and seemed to enjoy them.

He also tried to catch and eat a moth that was below him on his perch, he managed to pick it up, then he dropped it.  After a few seconds of watching it on the ground, he ignored it.

I've been wondering what Sammy has been hunting on the ground, and today he confirmed it for me, he's catching little, brown ants and eating them.  He spys them from up on his perch and glides down and nabs them.  Incredible eyesight he must have to spot these little ants from up above.

Watching for little brown ants

Sammy has also been "hunting" his mealworms.  I now place some in front of him on his feeding platform and he hops to one and catches it.  I'm trying to help him learn that not all food comes in a little dish.

Preening continues...Sammy is very meticulous about his grooming.  While researching, I learned that birds clean their larger feathers, like flight and tail feathers, by drawing them through their beak, which I have seen Sammy do numerous times.  They also use their beaks to apply oily secretions from their preening (uropygial) gland, which is located on their rump, to their feathers which helps keep their feathers in peak condition. Preening is also done to remove any feather parasites (ughh!) that they may have.

Daily feather maintenance

Amazing how far Sammy can turn his head

When I bring Sammy back inside for the night, I hold him in my cupped hand with my other hand gently over his body and tuck him inside my cardigan as I carry him inside. Once in my bedroom, where his indoor cage is, I open up my cardigan and let him have some flight time.  Tonight, Sammy wasn't interested in flying.  He stayed in my open hand and ate 3 moths and one bite of nestling formula, then settled himself down on his feet and got comfortable.  It had been fairly cool and raining this evening when I brought him in, and I thought maybe he was just trying to get warmed up. So, I moved my hand against my ribs and he tucked himself in close to me beneath the opening of my cardigan and stayed sitting contentedly for about 15 minutes.  Warming up?  Needing comfort?  Or companionship?  I think it was at least one or all of those reasons, and who was I to refuse this sweet little baby blue?

After this "cuddle time", I placed Sammy into his nest for the night and he chattered very quickly for a few seconds, in protest I think, but once I draped the towel over his cage he was soon was quiet for the night.

Today, Sammy is 28-29 days old.