blue-gray gnatcatcher

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher Nestlings /  by Todd Henson

Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers feeding their young nestlings. You can see the feet of the other parent hanging on a small branch to the right of the larger branch.

One of the many joys of avian photography is observing and photographing nesting behavior. You need to be careful, of course, to avoid causing any problems for the birds. You don’t want to stress them, scare them away, damage the nest or surroundings, or attract a predator to their nest. And that makes finding a nest you can safely observe for brief periods of time a very special thing, indeed.

One year in mid-June I found a small Blue-gray Gnatcatcher nest in a tree just off the trail. It wasn’t so low that I could look down into the nest, but it was low enough to see the little chicks heads as the adults fed them. I only spent a short period of time at the nest, perhaps 10 minutes, as I didn’t want to attract attention to it, either of predators or other people who might then attract even more attention. These things can sometimes get out of hand. I enjoy sharing, but in these cases I’ve learned to stay quiet to try to protect the well-being of the birds.

I was fortunate in this short time to observe both adults busily feeding the chicks. When they left the nest the chicks would quiet down and lower themselves. But when an adult returned the chicks started making noises to attract the attention of the adult, yelling, “Feed me, feed me!” In one photo you can see an adult holding a captured spider while the other adult feeds one of the chicks.

Feed me! One of the Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher nestlings lifts it head and opens its mouth waiting for food from the incoming parent.

Both adult Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers at the nest, one holding a spider for the young nestlings.

Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher nests are interesting. They are covered with moss, lichen, and other small things held together and stuck to the tree with spider webbing or caterpillar silk. I’ve watched nests being built and it’s an amazing process. These little fearless birds are so industrious and so fast. It really is a beautiful thing.

I know some of you might not find this next part as interesting, but I was fascinated to observe the removal of a fecal sac from the nest. These are closed nests. And all animals that eat must purge themselves of waste. Well, how do these birds keep their nests clean with several young all eating and growing together? The young chicks expel their waste in a small fecal sac, which adults will remove from the nest. Nice and tidy. And for scientists and naturalists these fecal sacs are a wealth of information about the diet and health of the birds. I’m just a photographer and nature enthusiast, though, so I left the fecal sacs to the birds. 😀

You can just see the fecal sac at the lip of the nest, just below the adult.

The parent grabs the fecal sac. Unfortunately, I lost focus on the birds.

The parent lifts the fecal sac out of the nest, keeping it clean.

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Nesting Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers /  by Todd Henson

Female Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher sitting in her nest, beautifully lit by early morning sunlight

There are times when the trees in some parks are filled with the sights and sounds of Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers. These are small birds with a blue-gray head and back and a white underside. Their call has a lot of volume for a bird so small, and it matches their bravado, as they don’t seem at all afraid of people.

Male Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher sitting on a limb above the nest

Male Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher singing while sitting in the nest. It is actually working on building the inside of the nest.

The photos in this post were created over a two day period when I was fortunate enough to watch a pair of gnatcatchers building a nest on a tree limb very close to the trail. The nest was perfectly situated to be lit by the early morning sun when it wasn’t hiding behind a cloud. This combination of great location and nice lighting enabled me to create some decent images of these fantastic little birds.

Male Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher singing

I found it an absolute joy watching this pair. They would fly away, looking for small pieces of lichen, bark, grass, or spiderwebs, then return to add their find to the nest. They use the spiderwebs to hold everything together. Click on the images for full-screen views, where you can see the lichen and spiderwebs woven through the nest.

Female Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher sitting on a branch

Take another close look at the photos to compare the male and female. You can tell them apart because the male has a black eyebrow, whereas the female does not.

Male Blue-Gray Gnatcatcher sitting on a branch

Blue-Gray Gnatcatchers are one of the many species I look forward to each Spring. What species do you look forward to?

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Respect Wildlife: Don't Touch! /  by Todd Henson

Blue-gray Gnatcatcher building a nest. Keep a respectful distance when photographing or observing nesting behavior. Don't stay at the site very long. Don't disturb anything.

I love photography, and I love photographing wildlife in its own environment. But the photograph has to be secondary to the welfare of the animal. We can’t endanger or harasses an animal just to get a photograph. If we don’t respect and protect the wildlife we enjoy watching and photographing, we may lose the privilege, either because the parks we visit restrict access or because the wildlife moves off or dies off.

I've read several news reports over the last year about people mistreating wildlife, sometimes just to capture a selfie, but other times thinking they were helping. It's sad. I'm hopeful some of these people are just ignorant, they don't realize the damage they're doing. I’m hopeful over time they’ll learn and change their behavior. But I fear some people just callously don't care.

The most recent incident I’ve read about involved a mountain goat in Seward, Alaska. The goat entered a populated area, something that is apparently unusual. When it made its way to the harbor people were following it, trying to get pictures. They kept following it, giving it nowhere to go but towards the ocean. It jumped or fell into the ocean and drown. If people had not crowded it, if they weren’t so determined to get close and photograph it, perhaps it could have made it’s way back out of the populated area. And perhaps not, but at least it would have had a chance.

Earlier in the year a couple of tourists at Yellowstone National Park apparently saw a bison calf they felt looked cold, so they picked it up, put it in their truck, and drove it to the ranger station. The rangers brought the bison back and tried to reunite it with the herd, but the herd rejected it. They later euthanized the bison because, having been abandoned, it kept endangering itself and others by approaching tourists and cars. Though it does appear these tourists meant well, and it’s entirely possible the calf would have died anyway, they never should have approached the animal. If the mother had been nearby the tourists could have been attacked. And by interfering with the calf it is entirely possible they were responsible for the mother rejecting it. Wildlife doesn’t care whether we mean well.

There have been several reports of people picking up and taking home harbor seal pups along the U.S. northwest coastline, thinking they had been abandoned by their mothers, not realizing mothers often leave pups for long periods of time so they can hunt for food. Unfortunately, the pup sometimes dies as a result of what are often well-meaning, but ignorant people. 

Perhaps some of these reports have left out important details. Perhaps, in some cases, animals are already dead when people approach them. Either way, in most cases they should be left alone. If people feel the need to try to help they should leave the animals where they are and contact organizations better suited to helping injured or abandoned animals. Contact an animal rescue group. If it’s on park land contact the park authorities.

I recall one instance of the correct way to help wildlife. A large osprey nest in a park fell from a tree with a mother and a couple chicks in the nest. The nest landed near a trail. One of the regular visitors of the park saw the fallen nest and osprey. Instead of approaching too close he called the park’s wildlife biologist, then waited by the nest to keep watch and assure no one else approached until the biologist arrived. If he had approached too close he could have been injured, as osprey have very sharp talons and beaks. Or one of the birds could have become agitated by the approach and injured itself. When I happened to arrive at this part of the park the biologist was putting the injured osprey in her truck. She was taking them to a raptor rehabilitation facility. From what I heard later the mother and one of the chicks recovered enough to be released back into the wild.

If you’re new to watching and photographing wildlife, please learn from these examples. Don’t approach wildlife too closely. Don’t harass animals. Don’t feed them or attempt to touch them. Watch from a distance. Observe the behavior of the animal. You can tell if an animal is ok with you being there. If it becomes agitated, if it tries to move away from you, then you’re too close. Move away, perhaps leave and come back another day. You know you’re observing wildlife correctly when the animals seem to completely ignore you. I’ve been in situations where the wildlife I was observing lay down and went to sleep right in front of me. I love those moments!

Young sleeping fox. Don't get too close. Don't try to touch or pet wildlife, no matter how cute they appear.

By all means, go out into nature, observe and photograph wildlife. But realize it's a privilege to be this close to wildlife, a privilege than can be taken away or destroyed if we misuse it. Learn to respect the wildlife. Learn to care more about the wildlife than the photograph. Then when you view or capture a beautiful wildlife moment it will have even more meaning.

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