Henry Koh a.k.a. HK2000 documented an adult Red-legged Crake (Rallina fasciata) teaching its chick to forage. The adult bird is seen picking up a grub and feeding it to the chick. This is a common sight with recently fledged chicks.

Nesting chicks are fed by the two parents who regularly bring them food. When the chicks fledge, this feeding continues. After all, the fledglings need to be taught how to forage. And it takes two weeks or so before the fledglings become independent.

The fledglings need to learn how to fly, how to recognise food, how to avoid predators and a host of other survival lessons. Thus for the next week or two, depending on the species, the adults take great care of the fledglings, feeding them and encouraging them to fly longer and longer distances. The chicks will constantly beg for food and the adults use food to encourage them to fly longer and longer distances.

Without the adults to teach the fledglings these survival tactics, they will invariably become food for predators. This is one reason why the public should never take a chick displaced from its nest home and look after it - see HERE. Invariable the displaced chick, once released into the wild, will become food for predators.

This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

Choo Teik Ju’s studies of a Barn Swallow ( Hirundo rustica ) fledgling show the changing mood of the young bird as it waits for the adults to arrive with food. It sits quietly when the adults are not nowhere in sight (above left). Note the yellow flanges lining the mandibles. The moment it senses an adult coming, it gapes widely to highlight the yellow-red bottomless pit of a throat lined by the flanges (above right). At the same time screeching loudly. All these help guide the adult on where to deposit the food. Once the adult is in sight, the wings will unfold, probably to make itself conspicuous (below left).

Once fed, the fledgling may indulge in comfort behaviour, stretching its wings one at a time (above right) or both together and scratching its head.

The photographs were documented by Choo Teik Ju at the Mai Po Marshes, Hongkong.

This post is a cooperative effort between NaturePixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.

A pair of adult Dark-necked Tailorbird (Orthotomus atrogularis atrogularis) was photographed in the Kledang-Sayong Forest Reserve, Perak, Malaysia feeding two juveniles (above left) on 16th September 2009.

According to Dato’ Dr Amar-Sing HSS, “Food that I saw fed to juveniles was spiders (above right) and caterpillars. The adult would get the food, with juveniles chasing close behind and calling out constantly. Some food (caterpillar) was branch swiped by the parent before presented to the juvenile. Other (like the spider) was branch swiped by the juvenile itself.

“Data on what food is taken is limited locally (Wells 2007).”

All images by Amar-Singh HSS (Dato, Dr)

Reference:
Wells, D.R., 2007. The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. II, Passerines. Christopher Helm, London. 800 pp.

On 3rd September 2009, Connie Khoo sent a note from her base in the Malaysian state of Perak to share her finding of a new behaviour pattern among the Jungle Myna (Acridotheres fuscus).

Cooperative breeding has been reported in the family Sturnidae that includes starlings and mynas. Eleven species of African starlings have been known to indulge in cooperative breeding. Among Asian species Shining Starling (Aplonis metallica) and possible Yellow-faced Myna (Mino dumontii) may also be involved in such behaviour. But not Jungle Myna.

Cooperative breeding refers to cases where the two adult parents are assisted by helpers to care for a single brood of offspring. The helpers are generally non-breeding birds, often the siblings from the last brood. Helpers, besides helping in feeding the chicks, may also assist in territorial defence and nest building.

“On the morning of 5th August 2009 I was at the limestone hills at Kek Lok Tong in Ipoh, checking on the nests of the Java Sparrow (Padda oryzivora). While there, my attention was directed to a pair stealing nesting materials from a nearby nest of the Jungle Myna.

“It was then that I noticed a family of Jungle Myna flying in and out of a crevice where their nest was. The adults were accompanied by two juveniles, whose plumage appeared abnormal – genetic freaks probably (above). Then I heard chicks calling from inside the crevice.

“Curious to find out more about the genetic freaks, I was pleasantly surprised to see one juvenile helping to feed the chicks. The chicks appeared mature enough to fledge anytime.”

The above image (left) shows an adult with a juvenile; that on the right shows a helper feeding the chicks in the nest.

Dr David Wells, in answer to Connie’s queries, wrote: “Freak plumage has allowed you to discover that Jungle Myna has ‘helpers at the nest’. This behaviour in birds, and often involving immature from a previous brood, but (to my knowledge) never before recorded in this myna. Well done!”

Reference:
Feare, C. & A. Craig, 1998. Starlings and mynas. Christopher Helm (Publishers) Ltd., London. 285 pp.

Lim Jit Yin was alerted to a nesting pair of White-rumped Shama (Copsychus malabaricus) in Singapore’s catchment forest recently. The adults were feeding their chicks a variety of foods that included centipede (above left), grasshopper (above centre) and ?cockroach (above right).

“…it was very interesting observing how careful the female bird was, hopping from branch to branch with the food over as long as 20 minutes before flying to the nesting hole (below). The male didn’t do much feeding but was heard nearby. After each feed, the female seemed to pick something (possible a faecal sac) from the nest and flew off with it.

“When intruders came near to the nest (squirrel, monkeys, other birds), both adults did a very odd click-click-clack call.

“The chick is at least a couple weeks old by now, any idea when it will fledge?” wrote Jit Yin.

Wells (2007) reports that there is no information on the incubation and fledging periods. However, in one case the brood left the nest 27 days after the laying of the last egg.

The White-rumped Shama is a rare resident, breeding mostly in the offshore islands. The mainland population is of mostly males, possibly escapees. Of late, there was a successful nesting and chances are that the species is making a slow comeback. However, these birds are still a target of poachers as it is a spectacular songster with a great variety of whistles and it has the ability to mimic other birds.

Reference:
Wells, D.R., 2007. The birds of the Thai-Malay Peninsular. Vol. II, Passerines. Christopher Helm, London. 800 pp.