‘Tis the season for baby birds once again. These little guys were sitting on the barn floor Sunday afternoon.
I just love how well-defined their little mouths are. I wonder if they are designed that way to act as beacons for mom and dad.
I always find it comforting to hear their little peeps resonating throughout the barn.
Some interesting facts about sparrows from whatbird.com:
- The Old Testament Bible associates the symbol of the sparrow with loneliness and solitude, while the New Testament views it as a sign of insignificance. Poor House Sparrow.
- In Japan the sparrow is traditionally a symbol of loyalty, perhaps because of its sociable nature and how it gets along in large numbers.
- These birds return to their birthplace after every migration (a characteristic known as philopatric). Because of this, local populations have adapted to the color of their habitat resulting in 15 distinct subspecies in the West.
- A group of house sparrows are collectively known as a “blight”, “humiliation”, and “subdivision” of sparrows.
May 18, 2010 at 5:06 am
Interesting sparrow info! Last year, we had a “subdivision” of 11 young ones born that year. They were hilarious. They would all fly to the feeder and birdbath together in one large group. And then all spend their nights “roosting” in my clematis vine. They made us laugh all summer with their “group” activities.
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May 18, 2010 at 6:39 am
C,
That sounds like it was so much fun for you! I’m on a mission to find a birdbath this year. 🙂
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May 18, 2010 at 9:38 am
And if you can find a “drippy” thing for it, the birds LOVE moving water.
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May 18, 2010 at 5:29 am
Those mouths are something, aren’t they? If I look at ’em long enough, they look like big bulbous noses above downturned lips!
The little baby on the right in the first picture…I hope that’s his nictitating membrane across his eye, and he isn’t blind.
“A group of house sparrows are collectively known as a “blight”, “humiliation”, and “subdivision” of sparrows.”
I love venereal nouns. 😛
(http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/581641/collective_nouns_in_english_a_bunch.html)
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May 18, 2010 at 6:38 am
June,
I learned something new. Thank you! From your article: Examples of collective terms of venery include a pride of lions, a skulk of foxes, a bouquet of pheasants, a leap of leopards, a peep of chickens, a charm of finches, a shrewdness of apes, a parliament of owls, a murder of crows, etc., etc. You get the picture. Cool!
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May 18, 2010 at 6:43 am
p.s. The baby on the right in the first picture… that must have been his nictitating (I learned something else new, by the way) membrane because his eyes were open and he was doing fine moments later. He must have just been shy for the camera. 😉
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May 18, 2010 at 6:23 pm
I’m glad you enjoyed those droplets from the Wellspring of Useless Information. 🙂 I think you can make up your own venereal nouns…there are several for bunches of crows. Might as well; it’s fun to do.
I’m very glad the baby’s eye is normal. I was [almost] sure it was and felt like a nitwit worrying about it.
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May 18, 2010 at 8:57 pm
You’re awesome, June!
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May 18, 2010 at 7:28 am
Blight? Humiliation? Subdivision? How demeaning. Who gets to decide these things anyway? I love how you can hear the parents answering the babies’ calls in the background of the video.
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May 18, 2010 at 9:17 am
Great photos. I love birds, especially hungry little chicks. Interesting factoids. I loved it when the swallows came back to roost in the barn, when I worked there. That video is funny…the one bird looks like it’s trying to figure out where all the noise is coming from.
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May 18, 2010 at 9:32 am
Love those yellow “lips”….. 🙂
I did not, by the way, use my finger in the lily-of-the-valley pic. I’ve tried that, and my camera doesn’t find my finger to be something easy to focus on. I think I may keep a scrap of paper with sharp black and white lines in the fanny pack where my little camera lives….. Then I could whip it out for things that I know the camera is likely to have trouble with………..
🙂
Or maybe I need to have one fingernail painted with white and black stripes.
Just in case.
🙂
(not that I paint my nails with anything, but I could…. 😉 )
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May 18, 2010 at 10:04 am
You are just a well of info! Keep it coming, I love learning something new every day!
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May 18, 2010 at 10:41 am
Great pictures and information. Glad to know the little guy’s eye is okay. I thought I had a pair of chickadees nesting in my birdhouse but they seem to have abandoned it. Oh well.
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May 18, 2010 at 10:55 am
Precious little creatures. I just want to kiss those little yellow beaks!
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May 18, 2010 at 11:43 am
I love how their whole body wobbles when they CHIRP CHIRP!!
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May 18, 2010 at 12:58 pm
How precious are they?! Poor sparrows – they just get a bad rap!
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May 18, 2010 at 3:36 pm
Awww, babies!! There are two nests in the stall breezeway so am very careful to watch for little ones on the ground.
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May 18, 2010 at 5:01 pm
Oh I love the peeps! Baby birds are so cute! When I was young, there was a robin that would nest on my bedroom windowsill every spring. I loved waiting for the eggs to hatch. They do have adorable little beaks, don’t they!
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