Cold morning quail

[Hummer]

With the temperature at 12 below yesterday, the birds flocked to feed around the brush pile outside. We put out bird seed and cracked corn daily so that every morning and evening about 35-50 Gambel's Quail put on a show for us.





The scene is the same this morning but with 2" more fresh snow and the temp is higher at 22F.





Gambel's Quail are active and talkative. Also in the pic is a Spotted Towhee, and adult and immature White-crowned Sparrows. We've been getting Western Scrub Jays, lots of Mourning Doves and Eurasian Collared Doves.





I heard scratching in the laundry room and discovered a bird inside the dryer vent hose. Was expecting a Starling or House Sparrow but when I opened the hose out flew a little Bewick's Wren. It had gotten into the dryer vent and probably spent the night inside. The bird flew through the house to the upstairs office and hit a big 6'x6' window, apparently causing it to crack, (temperature probably had a lot to do with the break). The bird which weighs 1/3 ounce, was OK so I let him go right away. He blinked as I snapped the photo....




Anyone else have interesting birds to watch from home?

[ray1970]

Cool pictures. I know nothing about birds. I do know I can't stand woodpeckers. They tend to be a bit rough on my house.

[sniper7]

Those are awesome! I love quail!

[Hummer]

We like it here in the Grand Valley. Here's the view looking north a few minutes ago from my computer desk. The Colorado River is a mile north, Mt. Garfield in the center is 7 miles away, Mt. Lincoln is on the right, and The Bookcliffs to the left of Garfield run 34 miles west to the Utah border and beyond.

[vossman]

Amazing that an animal that size weighs a third of an ounce. I have never seen anything other than a sparrow or swallow around here.

[Wulf202]

When I was young we had a big problem with the quail suiciding into the picture window when we pulled the curtains back. Installed an inner lace curtain so they saw something instead of an opening

[10mm-man]

Very cool pictures! Looks like what's for breakfast..... lol j/k

Thanks for sharing, and keeping the birdies alive, fat, and happy!

[Hummer]

Amazing that an animal that size weighs a third of an ounce. I have never seen anything other than a sparrow or swallow around here.

Yea, wrens are tiny birds (1/3 oz. or 10 grams). Compare that to a hummingbird at 1/8 oz. or 4 grams, a White-crowned Sparrow at 0.9 oz. or 26 grams, and to a Gambel's Quail that weighs 6 oz. or 180 grams. A Dusky (Blue) Grouse weighs 2.3 lbs. or 1050 grams.

[SamuraiCO]

Nice bunch of quail. Thanks for giving them the right type of habitat for survival. They are fun to just watch and fun to hunt. In the burbs of Parker I have had flickers, downy woodpeckers, magpie, tohee, juncos, ginches, chickadees, bushtits, scrub jays, doves, flying rats (pigeons), just today. The occasional cooper's hawk will swoop in for a meal with they would take a few more pigeons.

Thanks for sharing.

[Hummer]

Very cool pictures! Looks like what's for breakfast..... lol j/k

Thanks for sharing, and keeping the birdies alive, fat, and happy!

We have breakfast with the birds every morning but I don't hunt the home covey. Actually had elk loin steak and eggs for breakfast this morning.

When I was young we had a big problem with the quail suiciding into the picture window when we pulled the curtains back. Installed an inner lace curtain so they saw something instead of an opening

We don't have many trees by the windows which would cause window strikes (although doves hit them anyway, dumbass food birds that they are), but last summer a quail did slam into the window and died when a Cooper's Hawk came through. The hawk didn't get the quail so I cooked it up. Not much meat on it, maybe 2 oz. at the most but it was delicious.