Wild Backyard Behavior Continues
Last week I checked in with some pix of my Wild Kingdom backyard. Check out the blog post. Here’s a quick snippet from our backyard camera of several deer wandering through the yard.
Fighting or Flirting?
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “fight or flight.” Today, we’re talking about, “fight or flirt.”
I observed a male and female House Finch interaction for about five minutes the other day and I was stumped trying to figure out what all the noise was about. I grabbed my camera and captured a bunch of images.
This is how it all started. Mama bird just hanging by herself on the lilac bush.
The male flew in and the female was not having it.
When I downloaded the photos, I was kind of amazed at what I saw. These two finches were screaming at each other.
Was it a territorial dispute?
A family dispute?
Or, was the male courting the female?
I was fascinated. I thought at one point he was yelling at her for eating my lilac bush. Ha!
Screaming ensued, as they moved closer toward each other’s beak. This was right before they made contact. No food in either one’s mouth.
After doing a little digging on finch behaviors, I learned they are not territorial. So, that was out.
What I also learned is that the male feeds the female during courtship and incubation. Hmm.
I looked closer at my images and there was a series of the two birds beak-to-beak. Was he feeding her?
Nope. In the series, there is no food in the male’s beak prior to the exchange.
But, what is most visible is the female’s tongue. So, now the story becomes, “Fight, flirt, or French kiss?”
And hence, the French kiss begins.
WHAAAAAT?
Did they just choose each other as mates? #allin
More screaming…
Mama Finch starts pecking at the lilac bush.
The male is screaming at her again. Yelling because she’s eating my lilacs? Trying to convince her to be his mate? Telling her it’s just not gonna work? “It’s not you, it’s me!”
She waits for him to stop all the noise and turn away before she gets sassy and sticks out her tongue. “Take that!”
Looks like they’re both giving the stink eye. Did they decide it’s not meant to be?
He flies off to a nearby tree and she resumes her snacking.
I’ll always wonder if I witnessed a union of bliss with kids coming soon, or a disappointing break-up.
The lesson I am reminded of here is that you might interpret a situation, or person, a certain way, but in reality, you might not truly know what’s going on — in the moment, or in their lives.
Moral: It’s a good idea to focus on the intention of an action before you judge a person, or situation.