A question about Royal Spoonbills

["martin butterfield" <>]

Elizabeth Compston went to Kelly's Swamp this morning and reported inter alia:

"There were only a few ibises about, but one seemed to have taken over the lower LH nest.  The 2 spoonbill chicks were perched above that nest; no parent was with them.  Later a parent flew, displaced the ibis and fed, slowly, one of the begging chicks.  I was able to compare the size of the bill of the chick with that of the parent.  It is still quite a bit smaller than its parents.  Good views were had of chicks and parent, although at times one or more would be hidden by leaves."

My question is can the chicks in this nest be considered to have fledged?  They are - as far as I can tell - fully feathered (which is one of the definitions of fledge) and after all the wing flapping over the past several days must be (at least very nearly) ready to fly (another definition).  They are not in the nest any more (so NY is NA for this nest) but given that feeding was observed they are still dependent.  (As a side issue does the smallness of the beak mean they are not capable of feeding themselves yet?)

OK, that is two questions- regard it as a post-Christmas, pre-recession two-for-one bargain.

Martin