Going for a constitutional this afternoon in BMNR, I noticed that there
was a young Noisy Friarbird begging noisily. The parent bird was busy
feeding itself and on four or five occasions found some prey and
ingested it. Each time the begging youngster approached the adult bird
too closely and increased its begging investment (more and louder calls)
the adult bird would engage in some sort of behaviour which clearly
contained the message: 'Rack off'. So, not dy.
There was a similar scenario with two adult and one young Yellow-tailed
Black Cockatoo at JWNR two days ago. Again the adult bird, with a tasty
morsel - freshly hewn from its former home inside an acacia branch -
lunged at the young bird as if to say, 'Rack off!'. Not dy.
Then again, this afternoon, two Sacred Kingfisher youngsters in BMNR sat
around begging, apparently waiting to be fed. The parent was about, did
not catch anything with which to feed them and did not feed them. Not dy.
A group of three young Noisy Friarbirds along Upper David Street, the
cultural boundary between Turner and O'Connor, were all begging lustily.
But they were all also actively feeding on whatever is infesting the
street eucs, said infestation having attracted significant numbers of
the usuals. Not dy.
Also attracted to said infestation were two Red Wattlebirds. One of
which was feeding and the other of which was begging. No transfer of
food occurred. Not dy.
In a garden nearby, a young Magpie-lark was begging in the harsh and
strangled tones with which young Magpie-larks may signal that their
voices are breaking. Its companion was actively feeding itself but not
the young bird. Not dy.
Four gardens along, a young Pied Currawong was begging (disconsolately,
if one wanted to be anthropomorphic about it) and not being fed. Not dy.
If COG had a breeding category 'IPDY' (Immediate Post Dependent Young)
or possibly even 'IWDY' (I Want to be a Dependent Young) I would have
had many a record to add to the COG database, including a rare breeding
record for the YTBC.
But alas, I came up with many an NDY instead.
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