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Duck Billed Questions

To: Greg and Val Clancy <>
Subject: Duck Billed Questions
From: Ruth Woodrow <>
Date: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 22:53:34 +1100
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" <> wrote:

> 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----- From: Laurie Knight
> Sent: Thursday, November 28, 2013 9:39 PM
> To: Birding Aus
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Duck Billed Questions
> 
> 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.
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