Scrub Jay Bites Goldfinch + Nest Activity Highlights 4-14-2015 V17433

This collection finds our bird nearing the end of incubation, with eggs due to hatch in the next 3-8 days. She's still taking good care of her nest and eggs, turning them regularly, keeping them warm in cool temps, and shading them with wings and body to prevent overheating, while the male continues to bring her food and guard the area against intruders.

At 0:38 a Goldfinch (or perhaps a small Warbler) comes too close to the nest and the female takes a bite out of him! I didn't notice any blood, but the bite did result in a beak-full of the invader's feathers, which she promptly ate! I haven't seen birds eat feathers before, but apparently they're either nutritious or must be completely disposed of in order to prevent attracting attention to the nesting area. Leaving feathers lying around might be a visual clue to predators that birds are nesting in the area. It's not clear if she ate and digested the feathers or just stored them in her gullet then regurgitated them later while she was away from the nest to get rid of them.

A number of interesting behaviors can be seen, such as the female begging for food when the male comes into visual range - something that is normal for chicks in the nest, but may be an affectionate/submissive gesture too, as sometimes this can be been seen during the birds' mating rituals.

The soundtrack is "The End of Summer (Rev-Rev Mix)" from the "Mission Control" CD by Technician (yours truly), MP3 album and single track available on iTunes at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/mis... full artist discography and CDs available at HTTP://technician.jcmdi.com

Contains JCMDI Catalog #: V17373,V17374,V17375,V17376,V17377,V17378,V17379,V17380,V17381,V17382,V17383,V17384,V17385,V17386,V17387,V17388,V17389,V17390,V17391,V17392,V17393,V17394,V17395,V17396,V17397,V17401,V17404,V17405,V17406,V17409,V17410,V17411,V17413,V17414,V17415,V17420,V17421,V17422,V17423,V17424,V17426,V17428,V17429,V17430,V17431,

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Enjoy the show! =)