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May 25 - We were greeted this morning to an
empty nest! Even though this nest attempt was dramatic, it was successful—with
three young fledging from the original five eggs! A warm thanks to our cam
hosts at the Heard Museum for all their hard work! |
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May 24 - Even though the birds don't look ready to fledge, the top picture is one
of the last pictures with all three nestlings in the box. Moments
after this image, the first nestling fledges, leaving just two birds in
the box. Within hours of the first departure flight, the other
two birds spread their wings and leave as well!
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May 23 - The male Prothonotary Warbler pokes his head
through the hole with what appears to be a very large caterpillar.
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May 22 - Both males and females feed the nestlings,
although males slightly more so. Common prey items fed to young include caterpillars, spiders, mayflies, grasshoppers, and
beetle larvae. |
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May 21 - The camera problems
have been temporarily resolved and we are glad to see three healthy,
strong nestlings. By one week of age, the birds are almost covered in
olive green feathers. They are also capable of faint
vocalizations. |
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May 20 - Although the camera was
down, our cam host did snap a few pictures of the nestlings being
banded. The banding data are part of a long-term study at the Heard
Museum, and permissible only with proper permits.
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May 17 - The female will brood the naked chicks for the first 3-4 days after
hatching, and the chicks will actually fledge by day 10-11, at which point they
will only be able to fly less than 10 meters! That requires some VERY fast growth to
fledge in that short of a time period. |
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May 16 - With the parental rejection of one of the chicks, there are three
viable chicks in the nest now. In the first few days the male delivers most of
the food, which consists of moth larvae, dipterans, and ants. The prey items
will get bigger as the chicks grow (caterpillars, spiders, mayflies, and
grasshoppers). |
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May
15 - We learned that the fourth egg hatched overnight, but it was cold
and barely moving. For whatever reason, it was rejected by the parents.
In the meantime both parents are in the box with food, but all three
young are sleeping! |
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May 14 - At the end of the day three of the four eggs have hatched! |
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May 14 - When the cameras turned
on today, two of the four eggs had already hatched overnight! The third
egg is seen with a large crack in it, ready to hatch as well!
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May 12 - During a routine check, the nest-box
monitor noticed a crack in the Cowbird egg, making it unviable. To
avoid possible bacterial contamination of the nest, the cowbird egg was
removed.
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May 11 - The female does do a little hunting of her own during incubation and
brooding, but her main food source comes from the male feeding her. |
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May 10 - The female will spend an average of 18 minutes at a time on the eggs
and then 10-14 off. When she leaves the nest the male will often go with her as
an escort. |
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May 9 - The average Prothonotary Warbler egg measures 18.5 mm long and 14.7 mm wide, with
a mass of ~2g. The Brown-headed Cowbird egg measures 21.5 mm long and 16.5 mm and weighs 2.9 grams. |
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May 8 - This morning we were surprised by the reappearance
of five eggs! However, upon closer inspection, there is one egg slightly larger
and bluer than the rest. We believe that a Brown-headed Cowbird removed a prothonotary
egg yesterday, and then, laid its own egg in the nest box early this morning.
Since the female has already spent one week incubating her eggs, it is unlikely
that the cowbird egg will be incubated long enough to hatch, but we will be
watching closely. |
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May 7 - A series of mysterious events occurred today, none of which
were
explained by the camera. At the time the bottom picture was taken,
there were five Prothonotary
warbler eggs. One minute later, there are four eggs, one of which
disappeared within
the last minute and evaded our cameras! It does not appear to be a
predator since most predators would have taken more than one egg and
spent more time inside
the box. The male makes more frequent visits to
the nest box following the disappearance of the egg.
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May 6 - The incubation period lasts 12-14 day, and is done solely by the female.
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May 5 - The last image capture of the day shows
the brightly colored male entering the box with a grub or two for the
incubating female. |
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May 4 - Prothonotary Warblers are one of two
North American caviyt-nesting warblers—the other is Lucy's Warbler whose range
is restricted to the southwestern United States and western California. |
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May 3 - The fifth egg was laid on May 1st!
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April 29 - One of the first images of the female Prothonotary Warbler in the box with three eggs beneath her!
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