115 - How Baby Birds Learn Everything

Buzz Blossom & Squeak — Be a Neighborhood Naturalist · May 28, 2026 · 21m

Last week on a camping trip, I had three moments that made me laugh out loud — and then sent me down a rabbit hole about one of nature's most entertaining and overlooked stories. A young downy woodpecker was earnestly pecking a metal pole. A juvenile blue jay locked eyes with me and immediately fled in apparent horror. And on a snag in the woods, a baby barred owl stood hollering for its mother like a very indignant toddler. None of them knew what they were doing yet. And that, it turns out, is exactly the point.

Two Strategies: Precocial vs. Altricial

Not all birds are born equal. Precocial…