This morning I saw a Darter sitting on a rock in the Yarra River, a few yards
downstream from the Plenty River confluence. It was visible from the
footbridge. I was
surprised to see that the wing feathers were quite undeveloped, just beginning
to
protrude from their bluish sheaths, and that the body was still covered with
down.
The tail feathers seemed full length. It seemed very young to have left the
nest - it
must have swum to its rock, where it was perched with its wings 'hung out to
dry'.
Is this normal behaviour for young Darters? Would it be capable of hunting
fish for
itself, or would it still be expecting feeds from its parents? I checked
HANZAB, but
found very little information about Darter development (after all, vol.I was
published
back in 1990).
I took a poor photo (extreme range for my camera) which I have submitted to
Birdline
Victoria, if anyone's interested.
Anthea Fleming
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www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
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