Springtime and the "Fern Birds"

Spring has definitely arrived in N. California. In our home, spring is also exciting for another reason, spring brings the return of the "fern birds." For the past six years we have been entertained and awed by these beautiful cooing birds. Each year, for several months, these birds and their little family become a part of our household.

The "fern birds" are a pair of mourning doves who return each spring to build their nest in a Boston fern hanging on our patio just inches from our dining room window. We're not really sure if the exact same pair of birds return each year, but every year a pair of mourning doves builds their their nest in the same Boston fern on the patio. We first noticed their return this year two or three days ago. Each morning, in the early daylight hours, they have started to construct their shabby little nest where they will raise their hatchlings.

Every spring we wonder how many pairs of baby chicks they will raise in the coming months. Since they first started using our Boston fern as their nest, we have counted more than 50 little birds hatched on our patio. Most years, from spring until the weather gets really hot in early July, a dining room chair sits against the window sill in our dining room so we can climb up and get a very close view of the parent birds, eggs and little birds.

We have watched these birds for hours and hours. The first year the birds moved into their fern nest, we limited our time working on our patio garden. We soon realized our flowers and garden were suffering due to our lack of gardening time and have since returned to our normal routines of gardening. We have grown accustomed to their constant coos and the sound of their wings as they come and go from under the wooden awning covering the patio.

Mourning Doves have to be some of the hardest working creatures I have ever observed. From start to finish of their brooding season, the parent birds are relentless in working to raise their baby chicks. From the time the first pair of eggs are laid in their nest, one of the two adult birds will stay with the eggs or babies until they are almost ready to fly. When the fledglings are almost ready to leave the nest, the parent birds will leave them alone for a few hours at a time. Once the babies fly from the nest, they usually fly to the roof of the house behind us, and live in the gutter under the shade of a palm tree as they learn to perfect their very haphazard flying skills.

Within a day or two after a set of baby birds leave the nest, the mourning dove hen will lay another two eggs. Now, one adult bird sits on the eggs, while the other adult bird babysits the two fledglings who have just left the nest. They will continue this process for about 4 months and will produce at least 4 pairs of mourning dove chicks. One season they raised 7 pairs of chicks, the highest number we have observed. One year, one of the eggs fell from the nest and broke. That year the doves only raised seven birds. Another year, the adult doves abandoned the last two eggs after raising twelve little doves.

Last year, we had our house painted during the doves brooding season. During the "power washing" phase prior to painting, I held the nest with two baby birds in the sunshine over my head for the few minutes the painter needed to wash around where the fern hangs. I worried the parent bird would not return, but my fears were put to rest after I re-hung the fern and the adult bird immediately returned to the nest and the little birds. Later, when the painter was painting around the nest, the adult bird sat completely still with her two hatchlings as the painting went on within inches of where they sat.

We know they are part of nature and have never fed them or left food for them. We do worry about our little bird family. Every year seems to bring it's own stories, dramas and challenges. One year, when the single chick was the only one in the nest, I came in from running errands on a windy, rainy day only to find the baby chick sitting in the nest alone. The fern was wet with rain and was being blown about in the wind. The little bird in the fern was perfectly still. I couldn't tell from my vantage point if the little bird's eyes were open or closed. I thought the little chick was dead.

Frantic, I called Mr. Pebbles, the world famous chicken expert, to get his advice. I told him it was 58 degrees, windy and raining and the parent bird had left the chick alone in the nest.
"How long can a baby bird survive in these conditions?" I asked.
He said, "Does the bird have fuzz or feathers?"
"Feathers." I don't know if I really knew the difference, but it looked like the little bird had feathers.
The chicken expert said, "How old is it?"
I had to think about this. I told him a few weeks. He said the baby bird was probably fine, to wait a little while and one of the parent birds would probably return.
Panicking, I said, "I think it's dead."
He told me not to worry, be patient and wait a little while.
Before we hung up, he asked for me to call him back and let him know the outcome.

I waited and waited for what seemed like hours. Ten minutes had passed. I tried to do housework, read, watch television. I tried anything and everything to keep me from watching the little rain-soaked bird alone in the fern. Nothing except the bird could hold my attention. I waited. About 30 minutes later, I heard the familiar flapping of wings and saw one of the adult birds land in the fern. I watched as the little bird started moving around, pecking at the larger bird's beak. I was thrilled the little bird was alive! I continued to watch as the parent bird moved in the nest to cover the little bird with it's wing and then begin to feed it.

Entertainment doesn't get any better than watching this little family of "fern birds."