The Talkatons

This is a Talkaton. They talk, talk, talk – all around the deck. It sounds for all the world like they are discussing the world situation in a most human way. My Audubon app tells me that these are mockingbirds, with the occasional curved-bill thrasher, cactus wren, or finch. There are a lot of doves around, and Gambel’s and Scaled Quail, but they seem to have no interest at all in the berries, preferring to find their fun in the non-alcoholic environment down at the watering hole.

The picture below is their headquarters at the moment. The right two thirds of the hedge houses about a dozen birds right at this very moment. I can see them hopping around, and hear their yammering. But they defy my camera.

There are still plenty of pyracantha berries in there, and they are taking full advantage. They eat and talk, eat and talk – and then hop onto the deck and act really crazy. They flutter around from table to chair to railing like babies playing, and then zip back into the hedge. This goes on for about five or six hours starting about nine o’clock in the morning. Afternoons are a bit quieter, and then they all disappear about four o’clock. But they’ll be back tomorrow.