Aww, ain’t they cute! Just an assortment of bird babies I’ve managed to snap a picture of. They sometimes look somewhat different from their adult version, so sometimes I’ve identified them by who is feeding them.
Note: If you’ve found an orphaned baby or a baby out of the nest, check out the resources at the bottom of the Raising Young page.
Chickadees
Chickadees are some of the cutest babies, especially because they’re much less timid around people than babies of most other birds.
This little baby is exploring bark, perhaps hoping to find a food item.
There’s a lot baby birds need to learn in order to survive in the world! It’s fun to watch them explore.
Here’s a family group. They often spent time on this mini-snag — an old pagoda dogwood that had died.
We love to watch the shenanigans of these babies as they learn the skills they need to survive on their own in a difficult world.
I’d love to know what this little baby was thinking on his first foray into the world outside its nest.
It took a lot of patience to get this picture of a little bird’s first flight! I’ve missed many other first flights, so I was determined to wait until he left.
Catbirds
We love catbirds, and since we’ve been supplying mealworms during nesting season, they’ve become much less timid than in previous years.
Cardinals
This baby cardinal just left the nest and landed in our vegetable garden. The parents were chirping to encourage it to get to a tree pronto.
It’s lucky to be alive. I heard the commotion the parents and other birds were making and went out into the back yard — just in time to see a neighborhood cat in the yard.
I got out my cat shaker and hope I scared the bejeezus out of it!
Dogs can’t roam the neighborhood and cats shouldn’t be allowed to either!
One year, we were lucky to have cardinals nest in our rhododendron bushes right next to our living room window, so we had a real “bird’s-eye” view through the window! If you look closely, you can see the baby in the nest. Then later we were lucky enough to see the baby leave the nest and sit on the shrub next to our screen porch! Days later, we spotted a baby cardinal in the leaf litter in our back yard.
This cardinal just fledged a few hours before. We were surprised to see this little bird since the cardinal parents had already raised babies earlier that spring in that same arborvitae.
I love the little tufts of baby feathers (though I have to admit that this baby might qualify as “a face only a mother could love”!)
I’ve read that cardinals don’t generally reuse their nests, but if they didn’t reuse it, it was certainly in the same general location.
Titmouse
A family of five titmouse fledglings that had left the nest just a few hours before are exploring the world outside their nest box.
I love the little feathers sticking up!
Cedar waxwing
This is a cedar waxwing that had fallen out of the nest. It appears he’s looking longingly up at his nest tree, or maybe he’s just waiting for his parent.
He already has his yellow waxy tail tip!
A juvenile cedar waxwing.
Blue jay
This may be the only little blue jay baby we’ve seen.
Really cute!
Sparrows
The chipping sparrow on the left seems to be a bit younger than the more-competent chipping sparrow on the right.
We were especially happy to watch the song sparrow raise this baby since so often we’ve seen them raising cowbird babies instead of their own.
This white-throated sparrow baby has a hint of its white throat.
This may be the only junco baby we’ve ever seen, though it’s possible that we’ve missed them before since they’re not yet as distinctive as the adults. I can see the white edges of the tail.
[Note: Juncos are in the sparrow family.]
Mourning dove
This baby is pretty well camouflaged against our wood mulch path.
Nuthatches
The baby on the left is a red-breasted nuthatch, and the one on the right is a white-breasted nuthatch.
Downy woodpeckers
Oriole
One of the few times we’ve seen an oriole baby. In fact, we generally see orioles only a day or two a year, often in spring when the redbud tree is blooming.
Robin
Wren
Perhaps this house wren baby is wondering what’s in our dining room?
Finches
Unlike most birds, goldfinches nest in the fall, so goldfinch babies are the last babies we see.
This photo was taken in mid-August.
I’m pretty sure this is a purple finch baby.
House finch babies are cute, but house finches happen to not be native here, so we’d be happier seeing purple finches!
I love the little feathers on their heads.
Resources
- Audubon: Amazing photos!
- Journey North:
- Hummingbird: Day-by-day nestling gallery – Excellent!