Cute Birds

OOPS!! How did these immature birds manage to "slip in"? Today was supposed to be "dedicated" to Insect eating (mature) birds, but I guess these youngsters were too impatient to wait for their turn after ALL the adult bird categories were introduced.

For "Cute birds" there are 2 categories: 1) Immature birds from our garden & 2) Others (from my "archive").

Since they "jumped the queue", today's entry is therefore Cat.1 = Cute Birds

Various sunbirds visit our garden, but it isn't always easy to photograph these "jumpy" birds, because they seldom sit down long enough to get clear visuals. Since it also isn't easy to identify some junior birds, in contrast to adult males, I assume that this is an immature Black sunbird, although the blackish "patch" on the throat "tells" me it could be a junior Marico sunbird (= both occur in our garden, also the White-bellied one).



What a cute specimen this Crested barbet is - we are lucky to often see (& especially hear!) these birds in our garden (in Jo'burg), also the Black-Collared member.






My personal favourite - an immature Fiscal flycatcher, which I watched on an almost daily basis growing into a handsome specimen. In particular I'm also proud about the "clarity" of this photo (= taken at the "right time of day" & from the right "angle").


Cute - this photo of an immature hoopoe is therefore ideally suited for this category. During this time of the year, our garden is often inundated by hoopoes, which dig out thick worms (plentiful because we had lots of rain lately).



Now this Brown-hooded kingfisher is NOT a regular visit to our garden, although I've spied one on 3 different occasions - most certainly a welcome sight if I do detect one, especially a youngster like this!



This immature Cape robin is another one of those youngsters I had the pleasure of watching growing up during the summer months - quite a shy bird (generally) but I had several opportunities to watch it "develop" (if not able to photograph it "clearly").


I love this photo of a young Black-eyed bulbul "balancing" precariously OR caught unawares by me? I think of this as a "lucky shot".




Now this little rascal, an immature Diederick cuckoo, was one of the most demanding juniors I had the pleasure of watching - it always alerted me to its pressence with persistent cries, demanding to be fed - by its "parasite" (= host) mother, in this case a Masked weaver!


A cute + "fluffy" Fiscal shrike (junior) - this bird species often frequents our garden, and I love its "cheeky attitude".










The little thief! Caught this immature Olive Thrush in the act of "stealing" a (baby) tomato in our garden.




So - who's the winner in this category?

"You be the judge" - Please vote via the comments option below.