Young Birds, Winter Birds, and Killdeer

Recently I've been seeing a lot of immature male hooded orioles.  They look like females because they are a sort of greenish-yellow instead of orange.  However, unlike females, they have a black throat.  On some, like the one below, the black is not on the face yet, while on others, it reaches the eye.  It just depends on how old they are.  The one below was taking a bath when it paused to look at me.  In the picture, though, it looks like it's looking at the tiny gnome in the grass.

Hooded Oriole

Despite being a few days into May, the cedar waxwings are still here.  I suspect that they'll be leaving soon, but they still gather in flocks every day to sing.  Below is a small flock of seven cedar waxwings.

Cedar Waxwings

There are so many young wrens in my yard!  There are young ones in the front yard and bunch in the backyard as well.  They travel around with their parents in small family flocks of four or five.  Below are two young wrens in my backyard.

Bewick's Wrens

 

The finches have also been moving their families.  Below is a male house finch with two young finches.

House Finches

The killdeer at school have been running all over.  They're always there in pairs.  They don't have a nest at the school; they must have one in the nearby farmland or fields.  They aren't just there in the morning, though they leave when too many people come.  I recently found out that they come back when all the kids go into their classrooms.  Then they leave again during passing periods.  Below is one of the killdeer.

Killdeer

The towhees have been rather quiet recently.  They were very aggressive several days ago, but now they seem to have calmed down.  Perhaps their chicks have grown enough to leave the nest like the other birds.  Below is a California towhee with a bug in its beak.

California Towhee