Definition of DY in Aust Wood Ducks [SEC=UNCLASSIFIED]

["Whitworth, Benjamin - BRS" <>]

I have also been dealing with this issue this year, having been watching ducks and swamphens etc more closely.

Perhaps with dy you have to take into account the 'degree' of precociality of the species (if that is a word).

On a 'wikipedia' site they have precocial and 'superprecocial' heh heh.

Anyway, ducks are pretty precocial, they generally only rely on their parents for a few days/to a few weeks for direct feeding assistance, and often then the parents only give 'directions' so for black ducks the parents give directions, some coots directly fed (passed food beak to beak) their few-day-old chicks but even these chicks also fed themselves a bit.

Swamphens seem to beak feed for much longer.

 

One 'wiki-type' site mentions that it isnt just about feeding, chicks like ducks and chickens may feed themselves but still be brooded. Alex also brought up the 'more than feeding point'.

There were black ducks at the lake yesterday that were half the size of their parents but clearly feeding themselves, but still hanging close to their parents and taking direction from parents when a predator (me) came along.

 

So my conclusion was for non precocial species (like honeyeaters) they were dependent only if I saw them fed, whereas for precocial and superprecocial (quail??) type species I have put DY if they clearly seem juvenile, and to be attached to a parent-like bird.

But of course this isnt 'clear'.

Benj

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