Spring is the time for babies!
Published by Christy under on 6:49 PM
I know when most people think of spring babies they see a cute little baby deer or fuzzy rabbits or baby birds. I think of those things too, but I also look forward to all of the newly emerging baby...INSECTS!
Almost like clock-work, the baby mantids have begun to emerge from their egg cases. You can almost set your calendar clock by these guys. This egg case was in an exposed spot, but seemed to weather the winter well. There are usually more babies than this, but this case looked smaller that most and maybe a little damaged.
Just to give you an idea of their size, compare this fellow to the stitches in my sweatshirt sleeve.
This tufted titmouse and it's mate have been frequenting the feeder outside my window lately. When I took this photo he/she was laying low. I think the resident Sharpie may have been flying over. I hope the other made it out ok. I just hate it when the hawk gets one of my feeder birds.
These brown headed cowbirds decided to come eat at the tray feeder this afternoon. I've never seen any of these birds before, let alone a pair. Not the greatest photo, but it will do! :) You have to be super sneaky to get close to these birds. Oh, an interesting cowbird fact: they are parasitic layers. What does that mean? Well, they don't build a nest of their own, instead they go around laying one egg at a time in other song bird nests. Sometimes the bird will recognize and push the invasive egg out but sometimes the mom and dad of that brood raise the cowbird as one of their own, often at the expense of the other babies in the clutch. Cowbirds are much larger and eat more than their adoptive siblings.
Almost like clock-work, the baby mantids have begun to emerge from their egg cases. You can almost set your calendar clock by these guys. This egg case was in an exposed spot, but seemed to weather the winter well. There are usually more babies than this, but this case looked smaller that most and maybe a little damaged.
Just to give you an idea of their size, compare this fellow to the stitches in my sweatshirt sleeve.
This tufted titmouse and it's mate have been frequenting the feeder outside my window lately. When I took this photo he/she was laying low. I think the resident Sharpie may have been flying over. I hope the other made it out ok. I just hate it when the hawk gets one of my feeder birds.
These brown headed cowbirds decided to come eat at the tray feeder this afternoon. I've never seen any of these birds before, let alone a pair. Not the greatest photo, but it will do! :) You have to be super sneaky to get close to these birds. Oh, an interesting cowbird fact: they are parasitic layers. What does that mean? Well, they don't build a nest of their own, instead they go around laying one egg at a time in other song bird nests. Sometimes the bird will recognize and push the invasive egg out but sometimes the mom and dad of that brood raise the cowbird as one of their own, often at the expense of the other babies in the clutch. Cowbirds are much larger and eat more than their adoptive siblings.
2 comments:
I have never seen a baby mantid egg case nor baby mantids!! Absolutely fascinating. How do you know where to look?
They are quite interesting little creatures for sure! :) The mother mantids make the cases in the fall, usually in brambles or on tree limbs about 2-5 feet off the ground...of course this has only been my experience with them, an expert could probably give you more accurate info. :) Sometimes they're hard to spot, but once you know what you're looking for you'll start to see them everywhere. The babies begin to emerge around the end of March/beginning of April, especially after a light rain and warm days here in NC. :)
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