Recently my daughter commented that the baby chicks my grandson adopted from his class project looked like baby dinosaurs. It is well established that birds are directly descended from the early flying dinosaurs. In contrast to the cute fluffy Easter chicks there are some baby birds that look and act very much like unruly baby dinosaurs. This photo essay is dedicated to some ugly bird babies I encountered while photographing egret rookeries in the Florida wetlands.
Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets are iconic birds of the wetlands and were almost hunted to extinction for their feathers which were used to adorn women’s hats during the early 1900s. Thanks to protective laws and conservation efforts, they are now thriving.
When approaching the nesting areas, I noticed the nest-building activity of the birds overhead and scattered nests in the low foliage and trees. Males typically choose the nesting site and hope to then attract a female with their architectural prowess. Both parents are involved in feeding and caring for the chicks. This is no simple task.
In my opinion, young egrets can be entertaining but they are not cute. They have insatiable appetites and are highly competitive with siblings for food provided by the parents. Smaller chicks born later in the brooding season are often disadvantaged as the food fights sometimes result in a smaller chick being pushed out of the nest with fatal results since predators like alligators are ever ready to take advantage.
While photographing the chaotic frenzy in the egret nests, (see the video clip below), it was easy to imagine a similar scene millions of years ago with the earliest flying dinosaurs. While the baby egrets more closely evoke their dinosaur-like traits, research shows that those cute newly hatched chicks from my grandson’s school project are actually the species most closely related to the infamous Tyrannosaurus Rex. Happy Easter!
As I write this photo essay, I am in my second week of recovery from a total knee replacement. With rehab going well I hope to resume my regular photo walks in time to capture some images of Spring - maybe some macro work with subjects that are not flying around and that stay closer to ground.
Thank you for supporting my free monthly photo essays. Bill
