Breeding:
Young mocker begged and got fed on the wire near the back
palm tree. His tail was about half normal, breast is
speckled, and its mouth is still being formed, but it
flies well.
1981-05-13: CA: Cupertino: 10305 Calvert
@home: Cupertino: 10305 Calvert
Blackbird, Brewer's 1♂ @Cupertino: 10305 Calvert
Behavior:
This grim scene took place on the sidewalk near my house.
On the sidewalk directly across from my house, I saw the
blackbird standing on smaller brown bird, which proved to
be a juvenile House Finch, which was struggling. The
blackbird jumped around to stay on top of the finch,
pecking it repeatedly. Eventually the finch was
dispatched and the blackbird started eating at it, the
head first. I recovered the carcass: it looked
half-fledged, and the eyes were definitely eaten.
Couldn't be sure if the brains were eaten. I have no
idea how the blackbird caught the finch.
Finch, House 1ϕ @Cupertino: 10305 Calvert
1981-05-25: NM: Palo Alto
@PA: Palo Alto
Oriole, Hooded a♂ @Palo Alto
Backyard on Calcaterra Court, maybe a half-mile from my
old apartment at 3101 Middlefield Road.
I haven't seen this species in my Cupertino backyard this
year that I know of, but this beautiful bird appearing
here leads me more than ever to suspect that a greenish
female oriole I caught on my Palo Alto hummingbird feeder
was a Hooded.
