Busy Canatara Birds!

Bird parents are being kept extremely busy as they find food for the growing babies in their nests! I found a Song Sparrow carrying a dragonfly to a hidden ground nest, and 15 minutes later it had a full beak again! I believe I can see signs of 5 different insect species in the sparrow's mouth in the second picture!

After a fish feast, a Great Blue Heron appears to be "flossing his teeth" with his long toes! Birds don't really have teeth, although they may have ridges on their bills that help them grip food. Birds swallow their food whole, and the gizzard in their stomach grinds up the food so they can digest it.

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/do-birds-have-teeth/

I initially watched a Black-capped Chickadee carry food into a nesting cavity. I waited quietly nearby and on it's second visit, the bird was sporting a beard! Perhaps there was an insect tucked inside the cottonwood fluff that it wanted to feed to the baby chickadees!