There have been 3 young towhees just out of the nest around my house. So far
I have only seen the male feeding them and I wondered if the mom had been
lost. Ground nesting birds have the option to leave the nest before they
can fly and I have often wondered about whether this gives them an
advantage. Is it safe to be out in the world before you can fly or to safer
to stay in the nest?



Yesterday morning I was drinking my morning coffee and watching out the
dining window when a male towhee popped out of the salmonberry followed by a
fledgling who poked at its father obviously hoping for food. Dad started
doing the towhee hop and jr was right in his face hungrily scanning for
edibles. Suddenly from the cedar tree above, in a blur of wings and extended
feet an accipiter dropped out of the sky and snatched up the fledgling as
the dad jumped into a cluster of Hostas. It was so fast, one second its
there, the next second the fledgling is gone. In the brief second that it
was snatched the fledgling didn't react so I suspect it never saw what hit
it.



Rob Sandelin

Keeping an eye on things in

Snohomish County