By Wild Birds Unlimited, Tampa
Graduations, baseball, vacations, summer wildflowers and Father’s Day! So many things to share that bring families together.
For nature, June holds the same promise. Wildlife families are forming, and they are becoming a part of your family’s world, too.
A bluebird father is in a frenzy trying to keep his first brood fed…while mom is already tending to a second clutch of eggs in the backyard nest box. Dad seems to be in non-stop action, bringing food to his five youngsters…while also feeding mom as she incubates their new eggs.
Shaggy-headed juvenile chickadees chase and harass their parents as they try to grab a quick bite to eat at your backyard feeders. Clumsy House Finch fledglings try desperately to imitate their parents in mastering the art of landing gracefully on the perch of a tube feeder.
Tiny Carolina Wrens, in constant motion, sneak around the yard searching under every leaf and exploring every crevice for insects to feed their noisy, chattering nestlings in the nest box hung on the garage wall.
And the woodpeckers…imagine the joy of watching as Pileated Woodpecker parents successfully coerce their recently fledged youngster to join dad on the tail-prop suet feeder. Or watching a male Red-bellied Woodpecker, repeatedly flying back-and-forth to share bits of suet with his offspring hiding on the backside of the big oak tree. Not to mention the waves of Downy Woodpecker families constantly parading through the backyard…with the juvenile males already identifiable from their dainty and ill-defined red-colored head markings.
Yes, June is a special month when nature can bring the gift of a new generation of birds and wildlife into your backyard. Be ready to welcome them with the food, water and the habitat they need to have a bright future in the years to come.
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