Young birds on the ground and bucks with fuzzy-looking antlers are common signs of summer across north Iowa.
As aired on the “Outdoors in North Iowa” podcast on KLMJ, Spencer Beyer, an intern naturalist with Butler County Conservation, says that young birds found hopping on the ground are often fledglings, not abandoned or injured birds.
“In many cases, those birds are fledglings,” says Beyer. “A fledglings is a young bird that recently left the nest but is still learning how to fly, land, and find food. Leaving the nest is actually a normal part of their development, even though they may not fly very well yet.”
Beyer says fledglings may spend several days, or even a couple of weeks, building strength and practicing flying. During that time, their parents are usually nearby and continue bringing them food. He says people should generally leave fledglings alone unless they are injured or in immediate danger.
Beyer also says bucks are growing a new set of antlers after shedding their old antlers during the winter. While the antlers develop, they are covered in a soft layer of skin called velvet.
“The velvet is full of blood vessels and nutrients that feed the growing antlers,” says Beyer. “Antlers are actually one of the fastest growing tissues in the animal kingdom. During the summer they grow remarkably fast and the velvet protects them while they’re still soft and developing.”
Beyer says the antlers harden into solid bone by late summer. Once fully grown, bucks rub the dried velvet off on trees and brush before using their antlers during the fall breeding season.
