Saturday's Critters # 418

Welcome to Saturday's Critters!

Hello and happy Saturday!

 If you love all God's creatures like I do and also like to blog about them and take critter photos this is where you can share your critter post. Link up your post and share your critters, join in with my critter party ! You can share any kind of critters the real ones, pretend ones, statues and paintings, a new or old post!

I am sharing archived photos, pairs of various bird species. Are they mates for life? 

1. The Bald Eagle is one of bird species that is known to mate for life. The Bald Eagle mating season starts the month of  October in Maryland. 1-3 eggs are usually laid in February.  Both sexes help to build the nest, bringing materials to the nest.  The female is known to do the placement,  then together they weave the materials. They can take up to 3 months to complete a nest and the nest could be re-used year after year. 

2. Cardinals are monogamous and will typically mate for life. The Cardinal couple will work together building the nest and they can take 8-9 days to build their nest. Breeding season can last from March to September. the female will lay 2-5 eggs.  The male Cardinal will help feed it's mate and their young. 

3. A male and female House Finch. I read the House Finch will have one mate for life. The male will feed the female and guard their mate from other males.  They build a nest shaped like a cup. Their nest is made with fine twigs and stems, two inches deep. 

4. Below are the male and female Purple Finch. The Purple Finch is closely related to the House Finch seen above. During he nesting season, the male will sing and hop around puffing out it's feathers to attract the female.  The female does most of the work building the nest, taking about 3 to 8 days to complete. They have 2-7 eggs and their nesting period is 13-16 days. 

5. One of my all time favorites are the Eastern Bluebirds. Some years they like to use my nesting boxes, either to keep warm or  during the nesting period.  They have been known to mate for life, unless a mate should disappear. The male bluebird will help supply building material and then the female will construct the nest. The bluebird can lay 2-7 eggs and nesting period is 17-21 days. They can have 1-3 broods during a season. 

6. A pair of Wood Ducks, they form seasonal bonds or monogamy.  The use nest cavities in trees, 2-60 feet high and not far from water. Sometimes they use an old woodpecker's nesting cavity or a nesting box is provided. They can have 6-16 eggs, taking 56-70 days for their nesting period. 

7. The male and female Hooded Merganser. I was surprised when I read that the Hooded Merganser is known to egg-dump. They dump their eggs into a nesting cavity of their own species and other duck species like the Wood Duck. Apparently the other mommy does not mind taking care of all the extra chicks. The young chick can leave the nest in 24 hours. 

8. The male and female Downy Woodpecker. It is said most woodpeckers will mate for life. They often return to the same nest cavity each season. They can lay 3-8 eggs and their nesting period is 18-21 days. 

9. Below are a pair of Pileated Woodpeckers. These woodpeckers will excavate a nest in a dead tree, usually takes 3-6 weeks to construct a nest. Sometimes they will re-use a nesting cavity.  The female can lay 3-5 eggs, nesting period is usually 24-31 days. 

10.  Barred Owls, I saw this pair close together often during our walks at Circle B preserve in Lakeland Florida.  The Barred Owl male is known to be territorial, therefore could possibly mate for it's life time. 

Thank you for sharing your critters and post!

Thanks to all my visitors and for your past and present comments. Stop back to see any replies to your comments. I appreciate everyone who loves and respects wildlife. Thank you for sharing your critters and linking up a critter post.

Here is my linky:

I am also linking up to Anni's blog party found here I'd Rather B Birding   Anni always has some beautiful birds to be seen on her blog, check it out!