We have Cuties!

DJ here. I figured I should do a quick post and note that as of yesterday, the "Cuties" have left the nest box and are fluttering around the yard. There appears to be two of them. I can't rule out three, but I'm saying two based on my spotting so far, and their parents' behavior.

Birdlet feeding the Fluffbutts earlier this year. Now there are two Cuties following in their footsteps

They look about like baby shamas always do. Initially their parents seemed to be having trouble getting them to take food after leaving the nest, but they are eating healthily now, no small thanks to our pricey live mealworms. They're currently down in the deep backyard hiding in the brush. Once they get a bit older they will accompany their parents up to the house and meet us.

I've shot a little video, but it's a pain to get the video off the camera, upload it to youtube, and then link it here. Eventually maybe. For now, just imagine a generic pair of baby shamas, Cutie1 and Cutie2, currently of indeterminate gender as far as we know.

Both parents are feeding them; as usual Bird is more likely to eat the high-grade mealworms than give them to his chicks but he does give some. If I feed him a fair bit on the tougher reconstituted ones he's then more likely to take the soft ones off to the chicks. But in terms of getting calories into the chicks, Birdlet is the pony to bet on.

This will be the third brood of 2020; the second one didn't produce any surviving chicks, perhaps because we weren't supplementing with live mealworms and there just wasn't enough food to raise them up. Their parents seem to think that once they're out of the nest, they're old enough to eat the tough ones, and they probably know.

I've seen one new behavior... new to me anyhow... in the last few days. That's the strategy of the red-whiskered bulbuls... they are half the size of the shamas and quicker. They try to steal the food the shamas are carrying to their chicks, made easier by the fact that they have figured out that we feed them. One of the RWB's will station about 10-15 feet higher than where we're feeding, wait until the shama has a mouthful, and then leap off a split-second after the shama leaves, trading the altitude for speed and wham-ing the shama from behind or making a quick pass, to get it to drop the food. This is dependable behavior which happens every time. Bird is the one mostly targeted since he takes a pretty direct line in the open; Birdlet flies a circuitous course around objects which they can't anticipate and swoop down on effectively.

A very nervous Tawny showed up for several snacks yesterday but we may or may not see much more of him with the parent birds on high alert protecting the new chicks. Haven't seen him today.