Socially Progressing

When mama Social Flycatcher was absent the nest, I pointed my camera into the opening and got these shots, two days apart. In the top left image, the first chick has hatched, and two days later, the second and third have hatched. Staggered hatching is called "asynchronous." It is thought to benefit the parents by spreading their workload and reducing sibling rivalry since the young are at slightly different stages of development.

Meanwhile, both parents are feeding the chicks and also spending a fair amount of time keeping them warm. These particular Social Flycatchers are not in the least spooked by us moving around on the veranda. I'm sure they are well familiar with us and have long since realized we pose no threat. And who knows, one of them may even have been raised in this same hanging basket location, a favorite with Socials over the past nearly decade.

Postscript: Just before this was to be published, I decided to check the nest as it had seemed suspiciously quiet all day. I peeked in only to find it ... empty. Something happened to the chicks overnight -- I suspect a snake -- although I did check the ground to make sure they hadn't somehow been tipped out. With the nest right outside my window, I can't help but be a little sad, especially for the hardworking parents. Now the question is ... will they re-nest?

Socially Acceptable

This hanging basket on our veranda contains what is left of my sickly vanilla orchid. I've been nurturing it for a couple years in the vain hope it might produce a vanilla bean. Just when I'd decided it was unlovely -- a real basket case if you will -- this Social Flycatcher (Myiozetetes similis) apparently found it very hospitable. In fact, she and her mate built a cozy fluffy nest in it over a matter of days.

Social Flycatchers are common throughout Belize, Mexico, Central and South America. They are beautiful and outgoing, brown, yellow, black and white birds that do well in human-modified landscapes. When I last checked, there was one egg in the nest but I'm betting there are at least 4 by now. It's not the first time the Socials have nested on our veranda ... and I'm glad they found my ailing plant "socially acceptable."