FEATURING

This is "Bird," the Patriarch. In the beginning he was so sure we were monsters that he repeatedly scolded and yelled at us when we were near his chicks. His name became just "Bird" which stuck even though he later shared with us more of his personality. He is bold, curious, demanding and an apex Shama. He has a complex vocabulary and a very strong combative personality to other birds but puts up with us in exchange for a free meal. Now he could care less if we handle his chicks.

Birdlet feeding Peepy1, 2019

Birdlet is the Mom. She is very endearing. She very softly talks to us when she wants us to open the worm bin for her.

We discovered that she  raises her girls in a different part of the yard from where Bird brings up the boys. If the clutch is only boys they raise them together, seemingly. (This isn't info from bird researchers, this is our own observation of this mated pair).










This is Eepie 1. Here representing the chicks.

Cheepie - our "special" boy. A favorite





Cheepie was our "special needs" chick. He learned to evade his Dad and stuck around longer than any of the others. Cheepie came in every day to get away from his homicidal dad, to rest and to have snacks.  Much time was spent helping Cheepie to eat by pushing food in his mouth, pointing at bugs to get him to recognize them as food, etc. He usually looked a bit ragged which you could see in his tail feathers. Here he is right after growing in his new adult plumage. He still tried desperately to stick around but when the FluffButts fledged he was finally kicked out of his home territory. Hopefully he is doing fine. He had a knack for sitting on clean dishes.