It’s that time of year when many of the birds around here have little ones in the nest. Right now food is also plentiful, but even so, I generally have a good turn out at my feeding station. A common behavior that I see this time of year is parent birds gathering up food. They will then take this food back to the nest where a mate and the little nestlings are waiting. It’s a behavior I noted last fall when I had a blue jay who was doing it. This is also the same behavior that results in those adorable shots of puffins with a beak full of small fish. The last few days, I’ve had a pair of eastern towhees (Pipilo erythrophthalmus) who have made repeated trips to gather meal worms. Today I decided to get some shots of the male bird while he was doing the gathering.

First, after inspecting the area to make sure it was safe (they tend to be pretty shy birds), he would dash out of the underbrush to the main concentration of food. Then he would spend a few seconds inspecting the offerings and deciding which ones he wanted. Next, he would start picking up meal worms and arranging them neatly in his mouth. Sometimes he would fill his mouth from one spot, sometimes he’d select worms from several spots. Once his beak was as full as he could get it, off he would fly to feed the family. The whole process would take him only a minute or two. In 10-15 minutes he’d be back again to start over. Some days it’s the male who comes to the station, other days it’s the female.

Watching the birds feed their new families is always interesting during the spring and summer. Most of them are very focused on the task, but they are also generally more cautious than usual. When you have already shy, reclusive birds like the towhees, I consider it a real privilege to get to watch and photograph them.