Even the birds argue in CV, ruffled
feathers (and its not a Delegate meeting). Every day both the Great Blue Heron and the Anhinga want the same spot on a wall, even tho' there
is a similar wall close by. The Anhinga always wins – I think the
heron is still young. Click on photo to enlarge.
You're probably right, Elaine, that the Great Blue Heron is a younger bird.
ReplyDeleteIt reminds me, though, of our hanging bird feeder up north. We kept sunflower seeds in it, and it drew a lot of birds. Usually the smaller birds were forced out by the bigger birds. The exception was a goldfinch, who though the smallest of the birds that came to the feeder, stood his ground against all others, including blue jays and starlings, who vacated the premises whenever he was in residence. He would muscle them out of the way, but it wasn't his strength so much as it was his "presence." We see that in the animal kingdom, don't we? (In the human kingdom too, I guess.)
And he was in no hurry to leave. Being a finch, he had the kind of stubby beak that could crunch down on a sunflower seed shell and break it open so he could get at the kernel inside, dealing onsite with one seed after another. The chickadee, on the other hand, had a more elongated, delicate, sharp beak. He would take a single seed to a tree branch, where he would then pin it down on both sides with his talons and peck it open with thrusts of his beak to get at the kernel inside.