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<\/a><\/p>\nHere you can see all four chicks – three of them\u00a0begging for food from the parents who were perched nearby.\u00a0 This shot was taken two days after those that follow.\u00a0 The image quality of some of these photos isn’t very good but I found the behavior to be fascinating.<\/p>\n
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When this parent flew to the nest I was mostly watching and not clicking the shutter.\u00a0 I had no idea that I was about to see something new to me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Suddenly one of the chicks began backing up to the edge of the nest and I figured it was about to defecate over the side.\u00a0 I was wrong.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The chick presented its cloacal opening to the parent…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n and then its white excreta to the adult bird…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n which took it into its beak.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n I can’t be sure what happened next.\u00a0 The adult may have eaten the wastes, which they often do.\u00a0 Or\u00a0they may be inside the bill to be discarded away from the nest.<\/p>\n Here’s what Birds of North America Online has to say about nest sanitation with this species:<\/p>\n “In Maine, parents of wild birds ate the feces of week-old chicks (BH); captive parents swallow feces of very young chicks (Gwinner 1965<\/a>). Medium-aged young (2\u20133 wk old) defecate on rim of nest (Dorn 1972<\/a>) or parents carry feces away (BH). Older chicks shoot runny feces over edge of nest (BH).”<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The adult flew off almost immediately after collecting the feces but I can’t tell if they’re inside the bill or were eaten.<\/p>\n But the point of this post is that I was quite surprised that the chick deliberately presented its feces directly\u00a0to the adult and that the parent actually picked them up as they exited the chick.\u00a0 I\u00a0guess it was my assumption that the adult would remove them from the nest\u00a0some time after they were deposited\u00a0but in thinking about it, that would be very difficult to do given the unconsolidated mess involved.<\/p>\n From the looks of the nest I’m guessing that at this age the chicks often\u00a0attempt to squirt outside the nest and we see the whitewash down the side as a result.<\/p>\n I suspect that\u00a0some of my readers know much more about this than I do but in my naivet\u00e9 I sure\u00a0thought this little episode was interesting<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n