G’day All mammals feed their young. Few if any species of fish, reptiles or amphibians feed their young. Most species of birds feed their young. I’ve been watching PB Ducks raising their young. A few weeks ago I saw a parent sitting on a rock with a large number of freshly hatched young nestling around it. This got me on the thinking about the relationship between parents and young and led to a series of questions. 1. Which groups of birds don’t feed their young? From what I can see, PB Ducks don’t feed their young, which presumably is the reason why the young are out of the nest virtually straight after hatching. I expect that the young learn to feed by watching their parents. I expect this is the case for many other species of ducks. Other groups of birds that don’t feed their young (that spring to mind) are the mound-builders (who have to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch) and the cuckoos (and other nest parasites – they leave it to other species to feed the young). What other groups don’t feed their young? (e.g. Spoonbills?) 2. Conversely, which, if any, duck species feed their young? 3. Why don’t duck species feed their young? Is it related to their bills not being suited to food transfer? (Duck-billed platypus avoid this problem by feeding their young milk). Or is it that the food is difficult to transfer? 4. A related question is what groups of birds that do feed their young leave the nest immediately after hatching? Some species such as grebes and moorhens have their young on the move when they are knee- high to a grasshopper. Are the earliest movers swimmers? I know that thick-knees (walkers) get going fairly early as well, but I don’t think they are on the move in the first night. Obviously species that fly from the nest have to fledge first … Regards, Laurie. =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) to: birding-aus-request@vicnet.net.au http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Hi Laurie, I’m pretty sure that all Mergus-species (and closely related taxa like Mergellus) feed their young, as it would be too difficult for the youngsters to hunt. As you said, I think the main reason other ducks don’t feed their young is because they don’t have to. Food is usually readily available and easily picked up. Sent from my Sony Ericsson Xperia arc S Laurie Knight < l.knight@optusnet.com.au> wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Thanks Nikolas I also had a look at http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Parental_Care.html The unanswered questions are 1. Do any duck species feed their young? 2. Is the fact that the young can fend for themselves the reason why some precocial species don’t feed their young? Regards, Laurie. On 28/11/2013, at 9:20 PM, Nikolas Haass wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
The spoonbills do feed young after fledging, right up until they’re almost adult size. I view most of the feeding activity in the wetland. Cheers, Ruth Sent from my iPhone On 28/11/2013, at 10:25 PM, “Greg and Val Clancy” < gclancy@tpg.com.au> wrote: =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Young Beach Stone-curlews and Pied Oystercatchers leave the nest quickly, probably on the day of hatching, but usually seek shelter within a few metes of the nest scrape and remain within tens of metres of the nest site until they fledge. They are fed by the adults. Young Spoonbills are fed at the nest by the adults. I do not know whether they continue to feed them after they fledge. Regards Greg Dr Greg. P. Clancy Ecologist and Birding-wildlife Guide | PO Box 63 Coutts Crossing NSW 2460 | 02 6649 3153 | 0429 601 960 http://www.gregclancyecologistguide.com http://gregswildliferamblings.blogspot.com.au/ —–Original Message—– Sent: Thursday, November 28, 2013 9:39 PM G’day All mammals feed their young. Few if any species of fish, reptiles or amphibians feed their young. Most species of birds feed their young. I’ve been watching PB Ducks raising their young. A few weeks ago I saw a parent sitting on a rock with a large number of freshly hatched young nestling around it. This got me on the thinking about the relationship between parents and young and led to a series of questions. 1. Which groups of birds don’t feed their young? From what I can see, PB Ducks don’t feed their young, which presumably is the reason why the young are out of the nest virtually straight after hatching. I expect that the young learn to feed by watching their parents. I expect this is the case for many other species of ducks. Other groups of birds that don’t feed their young (that spring to mind) are the mound-builders (who have to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch) and the cuckoos (and other nest parasites – they leave it to other species to feed the young). What other groups don’t feed their young? (e.g. Spoonbills?) 2. Conversely, which, if any, duck species feed their young? 3. Why don’t duck species feed their young? Is it related to their bills not being suited to food transfer? (Duck-billed platypus avoid this problem by feeding their young milk). Or is it that the food is difficult to transfer? 4. A related question is what groups of birds that do feed their young leave the nest immediately after hatching? Some species such as grebes and moorhens have their young on the move when they are knee- high to a grasshopper. Are the earliest movers swimmers? I know that thick-knees (walkers) get going fairly early as well, but I don’t think they are on the move in the first night. Obviously species that fly from the nest have to fledge first … Regards, Laurie. =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Hi Laurie, See here: http://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/Precocial_and_Altricial.html BTW: Some fish (e.g. cichlids) feed their young. Spoonbill chicks are altricial and adults feed their chicks. Cheers, Nikolas —————- Nikolas Haass nhaass@yahoo.com Brisbane, QLD ________________________________ From: Laurie Knight < l.knight@optusnet.com.au> Sent: Thursday, November 28, 2013 8:39 PM G’day All mammals feed their young. Few if any species of fish, reptiles or amphibians feed their young. Most species of birds feed their young. I’ve been watching PB Ducks raising their young. A few weeks ago I saw a parent sitting on a rock with a large number of freshly hatched young nestling around it. This got me on the thinking about the relationship between parents and young and led to a series of questions. 1. Which groups of birds don’t feed their young? From what I can see, PB Ducks don’t feed their young, which presumably is the reason why the young are out of the nest virtually straight after hatching. I expect that the young learn to feed by watching their parents. I expect this is the case for many other species of ducks. Other groups of birds that don’t feed their young (that spring to mind) are the mound-builders (who have to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch) and the cuckoos (and other nest parasites – they leave it to other species to feed the young). What other groups don’t feed their young? (e.g. Spoonbills?) 2. Conversely, which, if any, duck species feed their young? 3. Why don’t duck species feed their young? Is it related to their bills not being suited to food transfer? (Duck-billed platypus avoid this problem by feeding their young milk). Or is it that the food is difficult to transfer? 4. A related question is what groups of birds that do feed their young leave the nest immediately after hatching? Some species such as grebes and moorhens have their young on the move when they are knee- high to a grasshopper. Are the earliest movers swimmers? I know that thick-knees (walkers) get going fairly early as well, but I don’t think they are on the move in the first night. Obviously species that fly from the nest have to fledge first … Regards, Laurie. =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================
Just on the spoonbills, I watch the parents feed their young each year at Serendip. When the young want to eat, they bob their head up and down constantly in front of the parent until it finally shoves food down its throat. We call the young “teaspoons” :-). Cheers, Ruth —–Original Message—– [mailto:birding-aus-bounces@lists.vicnet.net.au] On Behalf Of Laurie Knight Sent: Thursday, 28 November 2013 9:39 PM G’day All mammals feed their young. Few if any species of fish, reptiles or amphibians feed their young. Most species of birds feed their young. I’ve been watching PB Ducks raising their young. A few weeks ago I saw a parent sitting on a rock with a large number of freshly hatched young nestling around it. This got me on the thinking about the relationship between parents and young and led to a series of questions. 1. Which groups of birds don’t feed their young? From what I can see, PB Ducks don’t feed their young, which presumably is the reason why the young are out of the nest virtually straight after hatching. I expect that the young learn to feed by watching their parents. I expect this is the case for many other species of ducks. Other groups of birds that don’t feed their young (that spring to mind) are the mound-builders (who have to fend for themselves as soon as they hatch) and the cuckoos (and other nest parasites – they leave it to other species to feed the young). What other groups don’t feed their young? (e.g. Spoonbills?) 2. Conversely, which, if any, duck species feed their young? 3. Why don’t duck species feed their young? Is it related to their bills not being suited to food transfer? (Duck-billed platypus avoid this problem by feeding their young milk). Or is it that the food is difficult to transfer? 4. A related question is what groups of birds that do feed their young leave the nest immediately after hatching? Some species such as grebes and moorhens have their young on the move when they are knee- high to a grasshopper. Are the earliest movers swimmers? I know that thick-knees (walkers) get going fairly early as well, but I don’t think they are on the move in the first night. Obviously species that fly from the nest have to fledge first … Regards, Laurie. =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org =============================== =============================== To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send the message: unsubscribe (in the body of the message, with no Subject line) http://birding-aus.org ===============================