It’s a great privilege to watch baby birds being fed.
Wonga pigeons feed their chicks ‘milk’ for quite a while, even after a baby has begun to potter about foraging for solids. They are very shy birds, so to see this taking place through our kitchen window was a rare pleasure. Note the excitement of the wing flapping chick on the left. That parental beak reaches in a long way, almost depositing the ‘nectar’ in its gizzards!
The more extrovert crimson rosellas love to show off their pretty chicks, and why wouldn’t they? I love the little one’s sweet red ‘cap’.
Below is a male king parrot feeding its chick.
Last year I documented the progress of two currawong chicks. I had spotted the nest high in a gum tree. At first it was almost impossible to distinguish them from twigs and leaves as they stretched their little necks and begged for food.
Oh my goodness, check out those currawong twins demanding breakfast a couple of weeks later…..that poor parent bird looks overwhelmed, and even a little bit scared of the bigger one!
Most of my bird watching is done in our garden at Blackheath, in the Blue Mountains. However, I was amused to watch a harassed Ibis trying to ignore its chick in Sydney’s Botanic Gardens. Of course it finally had to give in. Oh dear, its probably feeding the baby regurgitated beef burger and fries. We humans have a lot to answer for.
There is one situation in the bird world when I can hardly to watch a youngster being fed its breakfast. Look at this unfortunate magpie trying to satisfy a channel billed cuckoo chick. Good grief, mother nature can be cruel.
Why am I so obsessed with birds? CLICK HERE
