Sometimes birds look so cute that I just can’t help smiling.
Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxena)
1/1000, f/10, ISO 1000, focal length 365mm
I photographed these Hungry Triplets in Gippsland on the way home from a trip to the High Country; they kept both parent birds crazily busy and were always jostling for position to be the lucky one that got fed.
When looking at my images on the screen I was interested to see that the fledgling on the right has red swellings on its toes. The middle bird has a little redness visible but that could be due to the light, while the bird on the left has no toe swellings. We see a similar thing occasionally with young Helmeted Honeyeaters and the issue seems to resolve itself – which is good news for this little one. On the other hand, gout in birds is a serious illness that can also cause swellings due to an accumulation of uric acid.
Welcome Swallows measure about 15cm and weigh about 15g. Three to five eggs are incubated for 21 days and fed as nestlings for 21 days before fledging and continuing to be fed away from the nest. What easy numbers to remember.
I thought this would be a good week to spread some smiles, I hope these little ones did the trick.
Happy birding, Kim
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Not often we can say “adorable” when it comes to birds but this totally IS!
Such sweet little things, incredibly little and yet so feisty – my internet just went a bit doolally and it took half an hour to finally answer your comment, hopefully it improves or it’ll take ages to publish the new post
Greetings Kim. Just to let you know that Yahoo have ‘recycled’ my account and blocked me from access to Flickr. They say I haven’t used my account for some time and therefore it has been cancelled. I tried to open a new account but Yahoo tells me my email address already belongs to another account holder. Go figure. I’ll still get your posts, but I can’t post anything of mine at the moment.
How frustrating! Please let me know when you’re up and running again
ok – so 15 – 15 – 21 – 21 – will sound very knowledgeable now – cheers and looking forward to the next smile
That’s what I thought Sue, if only the scientific names were as easy to remember.
I’m smiling – thanks Kim.
I’m smiling because you’re smiling, it’s infectious : )
I really love this image, they look so cute and so demanding! It’s fascinating to see the inside of their beaks too I think. I hope it’s little feet were ok in the end.
That yellow colour is a feature of many baby birds. The gape (as in the base of a bird’s bill) of juvenile birds is often yellow as well as the inside of the mouth, which serves as a trigger for feeding, nature is fascinating!
Hi Kim,
What a marvelous picture!!!
Super emotion this morning.
I’m pleased you like the triplets Alain, thank you
So they are all female ? (Just joking)
Haha! Well, that got me thinking if a survey was done on which gender most often says ‘what’s for dinner’ I’m guessing it might not be females
Good response. Guilty as charged.
Aw, you’re the second guy to be super honest this afternoon. The other one went to some effort to find me and let me know he’d backed into my car.
I am so glad to hear that the feet issue could resolve itself.
Cute they are, but I suspect very, very demanding with it. Sometimes I think that small things (of any species) NEED to be cute just because of how demanding they are.
That’s a really good point EC. Like the ‘big eyed’ look of so many young mammals that invariably tweaks the cute button