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These juveniles grow up so fast. It
is hard to believe that on Saturday, June 23rd, our baby will
be 80 days old.At age 85 days they are considered 100% independent.
And he/she surely is.
Already as large as Mom and Dad we have had
many opportunities to watch this little bird mimic many things
it normally would not be doing until next breeding season.
Shortly after the birth of the first 5 babies,
Mom made a second nest and had 4 more eggs, two of which hatched.
The day after the second egg hatched, we found both babies gone
and the next day we found the additional 2 eggs gone. Predators
such as snakes, hawks, owls, etc. are normally the source of
this demise.
Nonetheless, it gave us an opportunity to watch
the juvenile immediately put his cooperative breeding skills
to use. He/ she would fly quickly to the new nest to protect
it, and he already started taking food from Mom and Dad
and going to the new nest with the food as if to feed the new
babies. He certainly grew up very quickly.At one point
after the second nest was abandoned we even saw the baby picking
up coco fibers from the window boxes, as Mom and Dad picked up
larger twigs, to begin what appeared to be a 3 rd nest.
This is all very rare, as Scrub-Jays normally
have only one nest per season unless they lose all of their young,
in which case they will make a separate nest and try again.
No new nests have been found and all routines
appear to be back to normal.
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