Bird of the month

Drama in the backyard

By Lorraine McFarland

It was the height of the nesting season here in the Ozarks I was feeling especially blessed to live where I can walk out any door of my abode and have an interesting birding experience. On this particular morning that was an understatement. In my back yard I have an overgrown clump of forsythia with a tree growing out of the middle of it. This is a favorite spot for Brown Thrashers (Toxostoma rufum) to build their nest of thorny twigs, grasses, grapevine and bark strips, and I was excited when I saw them move in this spring after a few years of absence. I noticed the Thrasher parents exhibiting some curious behavior. When I got my binocs I was horrified to see a big, black evil serpent was coiled up in the tree directly above the nest! The birds were relentless about harassing the snake, chirping loudly and fanning their tails and spreading their wings – a tactic to make them appear larger, the better to scare the evil serpent! Thrashers, with their long tails and beaks are on the large side and beautifully colored reddish-brown with a white breast boldly streaked with the same rich color. When the first brood leaves the nest, they often have a second brood, sometimes with a different mate.

While the Thrashers were furiously diving and pecking, taking turns harassing and going back to check on the babies, I carefully snuck up to peek and found to my dismay two of the four babies missing from the nest! Then one of the parents flew away from the scene and began to hop around nearby, quietly chirping. Soon, a downy fledgling emerged from under the forsythia and was quickly led by the parent to the safety of some low pine boughs on the edge of the woods. Try as I might, I could not find the fourth nestling anywhere. In the meantime the local bird neighbors were responding to the alert. To my amazement I watched a juvenile male Cardinal who I had seen catching and feeding bugs to his younger sibling earlier that morning, go for the snake with as much fervor as the Thrashers. Then came the Chipping Sparrow that has a nest in the dogwood just outside my kitchen window, and even a Black and White Warbler showed up! This neighborhood watch gang mobbed the snake. At least ½ hour had passed with the birds holding the snake at bay, but now he was on the move. As he uncoiled, I was again horrified to see a large bulge on his body and realized he was already digesting nestling number four. Now, I generally truly like snakes but I did not want this guy coming back for seconds. I figured he would drop out of the tree at some point so I ran and got my long pole pruner thingy thinking I would swing it as he dropped to knock him clear of the nest. The snake dropped to the ground. I missed. The Thrashers were in the clump excitedly chipping and harassing it. As the snake slunk out from under the forsythia bush, I weighed my alternatives. My conscience almost got the better of me. After all, black rat snakes gotta eat too…but, but, but, there are babies in the Phoebe nest and eggs in the Bluebird box and rat snakes kill their prey by constriction – oh, how painful! I had chased one away from the Phoebe nest on my front porch a few years back only to have it return and eat the eggs when I wasn’t around.

My garden hoe was handy. I won’t go into detail, but suffice it to say, my guilt was assuaged later that afternoon when the Turkey Vulture provided the climax to the drama and carried the evil serpent away while the grateful Thrashers and I looked on. Will they nest here again? Stay tuned…

Lorraine McFarland is president of Ozark Rivers Chapter of the National Audubon Society.

Bird of the month

The Ozarks Chronicle