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richly supplied with blood vessels. After eggs are laid, the bird settles on the nest and presses the swollen brood patch against them, thus transferring heat to the developing embryo. A temperature of 93.2 degrees — with very little variation either way — must be maintained for the tiny life in the eggs to develop and grow.
When I operated a banding station, it was important to record all information, including the sex of a bird. When sexes are identical, such as with mockingbirds and jays, this can be difficult.
On capturing a jay in nesting season, its sex could be determined by gently blowing on its breast. If this revealed a whitened spot surrounded by slightly soiled feathers, I knew I had a female.
With a bird as large as a jay and observed at close range, the incubation patch can be seen without capturing the bird. For other common species in which males and females are identical — chickadees and titmice, for instance — it is essential to have the bird in hand and observe the bare skin of the breast to determine sex during mating season.
Higginson’s letter illustrates the fact that there is much more to watching the bird feeder than identifying them.
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