Not raptors/owls I know, but Budgerigars in captivity certainly don't
clear dead chicks out of the nest (nor faecal material either) and the
lack of hygiene doesn't seem to affect the surviving chicks. As would
be expected from a species which is not carnivorous or insectivorous,
neither the adults nor surviving chicks make any attempt to eat the
corpse.
Parent (the female) Oriental Pied Hornbills have been suspected of
feeding dead chicks to surviving young in the nest. This species has
also been observed in Singapore committing infanticide and then
feeding the corpse to one of the surviving chicks.
These are the only instances I am personally aware of. Maybe it is a
behaviour which is possibly more prevalent in hole-nesting species?
Bruce
On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 4:21 PM, martin butterfield
<> wrote:
> When the Royal Spoonbills nested in Kellys Swamp there were a few in-nest
> deaths. As far as I am aware there never any report of corpses hanging out
> of the nest as is the case with the White-faced Heron, so it might be
> possible to assume that the corpse stayed in the nest.
>
> After the spoonbills departed I observed an Australian White Ibis feeding on
> something it was gleaning from one of the nests. I wondered at the time if
> this was tidying up after a dead chick or just spilled stuff from the
> parent-chick food transfer.
>
> Martin
>
> On Thu, Jan 27, 2011 at 1:50 PM, Philip Veerman <>
> wrote:
>>
>> Actually I suggest it may be unusual for the parents to remove the dead
>> chick (apart from by eating it or feeding it to the siblings). They
>> might remove it but it is not necessarily a typical thing for birds to
>> do. Most birds remove egg shells from the nest and many (maybe only
>> passerines?) remove droppings, but these are inevitable and the
>> behaviour exists for this. Having a dead chick is not an inevitable and
>> the behaviour to remove it is not that strong. I think the suggestion
>> comes from thinking as a person, rather than thinking like a bird (which
>> to be honest is not thinking a lot). What do others think (no
>> circularity intended)?
>>
>> Philip
>>
>> -----Original Message-----From: Perkins, Harvey
>>
>> Sent: Thursday, 27 January 2011 9:43 AM To: Elizabeth Compston; Canberra
>> Birds Subject: RE: [canberrabirds] dead chick [SEC=UNOFFICIAL]
>>
>>
>> The White-faced Heron chick has been dead in the nest since at least the
>> evening of Monday 24 Jan.
>>
>> Harvey
>>
>>
>> Harvey Perkins
>> CRC Selection Rounds Section _______________________________________
>> Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----From: Elizabeth Compston
>> Sent: Wednesday, 26 January
>> 2011 1:52 PM
>> To: Canberra Birds Subject: [canberrabirds] dead chick
>>
>> We saw the dead wfh chick last night. Its head was hanging down
>> under the nest. The parents will surely have to get rid of it as it
>> will foul the nest. Will they push it through, or lift it out?
>> Doubtless there will be scavengers waiting for a feast . We found a
>> small fish under the nest the other day. Ants were already devouring
>> it, after a very short time
>>
>> Elizabeth
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
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