H.J. Ruiz – Avian101 – Page 509 – "My Backyard Visitors" – All about birds

What’s Up?

It’s not my style to be posting photos of birds while they are in the middle of molting their plumages, although it is a natural process very beneficial to birds, this process also implies taking a high risk, by shedding flying essential feathers they increase their vulnerability versus predators, which in turn increase their chances of catching more prey and do it more often.

What prompted me to touch the subject of molting was because I found evidence that predators (cats) had been raiding my backyard. I understand the natural laws of wild life but it bothers me when the balance tilts to one side more than the other.

Let me tell you a short real story, about something that happened to me in my backyard about a month ago

Just like every day, at early morning I go out to my backyard bringing seeds to refill the bird feeders, do some clean up, etc. Usually is quite and calm, everything looked normal…Suddenly! I heard a hawk’s high pitch cry! I look all around and I can not see the hawk anywhere. I can hear the predator’s screeching sound again and again, I look in the direction where the sound comes from, that’s one of my neighbor’s backyard, he has a yard wooden fence…that’s when I see a long hair cat jump over the fence desperately and I see three Mockingbirds chasing him! One of the three birds is imitating the hawk’s cries! I laughed at this scene out loud (by myself like a crazy man).

How cool is this story? You tell me.