Look Who Showed Up at The Holler~

On By cindy knokeIn Birds, Conservation, HOLLER HAPPENINGS, MY PHOTOGRAPHS, REVERIES, Wild Life

Tiny Scaly Breasted Munias are native to India and Southeast Asia (click/tap to enlarge).

I told you birds,

don’t pay attention,

to where they are ‘supposed’ to be!

They looked as surprised to see me as I was to see them, but we are getting used to each other.

There is a whole flock of them.

It turns out these birds were sold in US pet stores as Nutmeg Mannikins.

Some escaped and have been breeding in Southern California.

I had a dickens of a time identifying them because they are not native.

Cheers to you from the new Holler locals who are fitting in quite nicely with the neighbors~

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287 thoughts on “Look Who Showed Up at The Holler~”

    1. I agree wholeheartedly with all you say. To top off their beauty, they are incredibly tiny birds, which the photos don’t show. This makes them even more charming დ

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      1. We have Sparrows with grey texture bity tiny birds here they are amazing to watch and their unity in flying. Nature brings many pretty creations. The best we can do is to treasure them for tomorrow. Thanks for your time. Have an amazing day with smiles.

        Reply

          1. You are always welcome. Thank you for writing back. You are a Champion capturing nature and its delights. I follow your view angles always . They are the best and you are ahead of them. Cheers.

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  3. Wow Cindy, what a beautiful find! They are gorgeous, no wonder I haven’t seen them before. I hope they won’t cause any problems for the native birds. As always, your photography is wonderful! 🥰

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  9. Wonderful skillful photography (like always). Nature has it ways of wiggling things around – and we’re part of that. Interesting origin story – like the parrots of San Francisco. Pretty birds too, without being too flamboyant 😀.

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  11. Stunning images, as always! And kudos for identifying those birds!! But it would have been so much fun if you’d written they are the newly-discovered Cindybirds 🙂

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      1. That’s so great to hear! Locally we have a flock of peacocks. They also started as pets – when the owner died they were released into the wild with the expectation that they wouldn’t survive – a rather cruel thing to do – but 20 years later they are thriving and fitting in just fine!

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    1. I was really stumped. I wasn’t looking at birds from India! I finally gave up and sent an query to Cornell, right after I found them myself. I kept changing the query and it finally worked. I was pretty amazed by what I found out, but there was no doubt about the identification because they are quite unique დ

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    1. Keep binocs nearby. They are so tiny, you need binocs to spot the pattern on their chests. After you see them close up, you will be able to pick them out without the binoculars. I hope you find some დ

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    1. Thank you Maggie. I can’t recall being so seriously stumped before. It was worth the effort though when I finally did find out their fascinating story and origins დ

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