Lefty is a Kookaburra that is blind in his/her left eye (see attachment). This bird is accompanied by a mate and we have noticed that Lefty is not efficient at feeding on small pieces of meat put on the balcony of our coast house. A permanent neighbour regularly feeds these birds. Some times Lefty's mate feeds him/her. Feeding is announced by the begining sounds of their territorial laugh. As we have noticed these birds for at least 3 years Lefty is unlikely to be a young offspring. One possibility is that feeding is part of courtship. Alternatively, feeding may be part of caring. Any thoughts on this behaviour or similar observations would be welcome.
Des Clark-Walker Professor Emeritus Research School of Chemistry Australian National University Canberra,ACT,0200 Australia. Ph 61-2-6125 4510 E-mail:
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