A TIME TO BE A PARENT
Rex Burress
Spring is the time for the resurgence of all wild animals as they go about the steps of raising a family. Thus there is a certain season for reproduction, except for mankind, who seems to indulge in sex all year long!
I was impressed with the diligence shown by 'lowly' starlings in tending a cavity-nest in my front yard. My old silver maple succumbed to the drought, leaving knotted branches with holes, and the alert birds had found it, ousting English sparrows. People may scorn the introduced opportunist, and curse its prolific expansion, but they have been quite successful, and aid in insect control. There is nothing timid about Sturnus vulgaris, as they aggressively seek out hollow tree holes for a nest.
The activity became quite frantic when the eggs hatched and there were babes to feed; the parents made repeated flights every few minutes to return with a mouthful of food. I planned to have the “Tree of Life” crew remove that tree, but I delayed until the birds finished rearing their young. Audubon folks would approve sanctuary for protected songbirds, but likely ignore saving a non-native starling family-- or the equally intrusive introduced English sparrow--in spite of the compassion angle.
They were making flights to the meadow behind my backyard continually, and the three infants were fledglings in the branches in about a week. As with most juveniles, they were “the ugly duckling” at that time, but in adulthood starlings are quite attractive blackish birds with an iridescent sheen in summer, adding speckled plumage in winter. They fly like fighter planes taking off, stout yellow beaks pointed forward like a spearfish, and they walk in dignity, like all blackbirds, instead of hopping robin-style. You notice these nuances when you watch and study birds.
In England, starlings are more numerous and roost together in great flocks, often taking to the evening sky in impressive groups called “murmurations,” forming fantastic aerial patterns in unison.
Because starlings and English sparrows were mentioned in Shakespeare poems, some ambitious thinker wanted them in America to advance Shakespearean culture! Starlings were introduced in 1890 with 60 in New York, and English sparrows in 1851 with 8 pairs in Brooklyn. They spread in a frightening rapidly throughout America. Every city now has an abundance of the Big Three from Europe--Starlings, English sparrows, and pigeons. They have more confidence around buildings, farm barns especially, and were my 'big game' in B-B gun days. But they just kept coming!
Not only birds are pledged to raise young, but down on the creek the bare-footed boy watched a myriad of animals, thrown off balance by the needs of hungry dependents, ignoring usual caution, allowing the young naturalist to see more animals in action.
The vigorous dedication shown in defending an animal's family is remarkable! Although the aggressiveness of a mother bear in defending her cubs is well known, birds come to the front, time and time again, in some surprising defensive tactics.
Quite dramatically, a recent video showed a mother killdeer out in a field that was being disked by a colossal tractor unit in preparation for planting. The bird was standing by her two eggs and scant nest as the monstrous rig approached, but she held her ground, even when the tractor ran over her...but the disc operator allowed some space between wheels and lifted the pulverizing blades to spare her life... a show of compassion that is the salvation of the world.
“If a bird's nest chance to be before thee in the way, in any tree or on the ground, whether they be young ones, or eggs, and the dam sitting upon the young, or upon the eggs, thou shalt not take the dam with the young; but thou shalt in any wise let the dam go, and take the young to thee: That it may be well with thee and that thou mayest prolong thy days.” --Deuteronomy 22:6