Spoonbills and ibises

["martin butterfield" <>]

When I rode out to Kelly's this morning (1055) there was an adult Spoonbill feeding close to Crake Alley and 2 more adults feeding in the area between Bittern and Cygnus hides.  The nest tree had a chcik and an adult in the Upper nest, a chick standing well out of the RH nest and one chick in the LH nest and a 2nd chick well out of (about 1m above) the LH nest.  There were also 2 Australian White Ibises (hereafter Ibis - there were no Gloosy Ibis or Straw-necked Ibis around today) in the tree.

At about 1105 an Ibis began to pursue the chick standing out of the LH nest.  This became quite a physical process with the Ibis clearly pecking the Spoonbill (see first poor image attached).  During much of this process the assaulted chick was uttering a rather plainitive call which had no impact on the three adulyts feeding elsewhere in the swamp.  After about 10 minutes the Ibis seemed to lose inetrest in this processand peace was (briefly) restored.

At 1115 the second Ibis flew to a low branch at the extreme RHS of the tree and balanced its way along to the nest there which it entered and began pecking industriously at the floor of the empty nest.The second attached image shows the chick in front of the nest with the white background blob being the Ibis in the nest.  In turn this chick began to utter a keening sound, which appeared to attract the atention of the Ibis. After some 5 minutes an Adult Spoonbill, which had grazed its way in front of Cygnus hide returned to the tree carrying a stick (significance of this??) and proceeded to eject the Ibis.  The Spoonbill chick immediately (1125) started a head-bobbing routine attempting - unsuccesfully as far as I could see - to persuade the adult to feed it.  

Should this episode have been set in Williamsburg, Brooklyn one could imagine the adults response: "Enough already!  I've saved you from the meshugener Ibis and you want I should feed you as well?"

Martin

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