Juvenile Indigo Buntings

A nice day of birdwatching with some out-of-town cousins ended with us spotting a baby bird
on the ground about 50' away from us. Closer inspection revealed another, and even closer
inspection revealed a third.

How did they end up here? Where was the nest?

The nest was in a small sapling which was growing in what was a field, a day or two previously,
and now lay cut, on the ground. It seems the NYS Parks Service decided that the field had to be
mowed, even though it was not a specific recreation area. They will be getting a letter from me
very soon. Ridiculous management of natural resources. What else would you expect from a
government agency?

I stuck the sapling in the ground on the edge of the woods and proceeded to place the babies back
in the nest. Two of the birds stayed, but the third kept hopping out, even though he was nowhere
near ready. We then stepped back and watched as the female returned with a worm and fed the baby
on the ground, under the nest. We didn't see her feed the other babies in the fifteen minutes we
watched. Hopefully, she will find them and feed them too.