Yesterday (Sunday) evening near the Taughannock swimming area, a not-quite-fledgling waxwing was on the grass presumably fallen from its nest. Its frequent trills alerted its presence to some of the many passers by, though on at least one occasion when it took a break from calling, someone almost stepped on it. Its parents would trill off and on from the surrounding trees, and when the coast was clear would come down to feed it -- though before doing so they seemed to coax it to move closer to the bushes where they seemed more comfortable. The young waxwing seemed pretty healthy and energetic, and was moving about by repeatedly trying to fly, but each time only managing to jump a foot or two.
At one point, a catbird came to check things out. It landed about a foot away on a couple occasions, but would be flushed by a passing human. The catbird hung around the nearby tree for some time, seeming to keep an eye on the young waxwing -- what I couldn't tell, however, was whether its intentions were good or bad. A parent waxwing was certainly around when the catbird was close, and made no noticeable response. When I repositioned myself closer to the young waxwing, the catbird started meowing vehemently -- presumably this was for the sake of the young waxwing, though it's possibly I may have happened to encroach on its own nest somewhere in the bush. Anyhow, I left them without taking any further action, figuring that the young waxwing was mobile enough to find shelter. What I'm curious about is whether the catbird's presence was out of concern for the little waxwing, which is the impression I got from the limited behaviors observed. Any thoughts? Suan -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
