From the Nest to the Hand

When the volunteer turned his wrist he touched the breast of the bird and said that she was a mother who had given birth. And he showed the evidence: the coat of feathers covering her breast slips open at the touch of his finger, exposing the underlying skin, if that is the right word.

I was amazed. Just a beginner at birding, I had no idea of the complexity of the process, and if you had asked me, I would have answered that a bird on the nest used its entire body as a sort of cover or blanket to provide the warmth. I had no idea that the body changed in such a spectacular manner, allowing the much warmer core of the mother to be readily available to the babies who will be adults in weeks.

Perhaps everyone else knew all this, but I thought it was a wonderful and clear way to learn something of value. My photographer's instincts would like to thank this female woodpecker for the lesson in the beauty and power of nature.