Friday, July 6, 2012

Everybody Out Of the Nest!

Wings akimbo and beak agape, the scrub jay sat on the wire in the barn, just looking around.  I thought it was the heat that caused him to sit so.  Another jay joined the first and assumed the same posture.  A third bird landed and it sent the two into a tizzy, both frantically fluttering their wings.  These fully grown lummoxes were still being fed by their parents!  Now really.  Old enough to fly on their own, albeit not too far past the learner's permit stage, these boys were big enough to get a job and fend for themselves.  They could not possibly fit in their hatchling nest, but were still being treated like babies by their folks.  I kept thinking of Baby Huey, the big duckling in diapers in a long-ago cartoon.  The overworked parent jays need to consider some tough love here.  Everybody out of the nest!

1 comment:

Kathryn said...

Sounds like the birds are following the path of the history. I've heard that kids in the depression had jobs at early ages and now mommy and daddy feed and house them ad infinitum! Who knew the jays listen to the 6:00 news!!