Hi Bob, Gloria and other babbler-lovers
Ah, Grey-crowned Babblers - my all-time favourite bird! They're
relatively common around Roma, but not in my garden. A group has just
fledged young at the back of the place where my wife works - does that
count?
Like Bob, I've seen several birds of a group feeding young. Last week, I
also watched at least three birds in a group of Chestnut-crowned
Babblers taking food to calling young in a nest. A few years back, I had
the pleasure of helping Peter Cale in WA on a study of White-browed
babblers. The impression I got there was that incubation is done
exclusively by the laying female, who also feeds herself, but once the
young are hatched out then other members of the group also feed the
young. I have no idea whether Babblers co-opt or kidnap members of other
groups, but I did hear from Peter that follow-up work indicated that
groups mix 'n' match members post-breeding.
This co-operative breeding stuff is fascinating, isn't it?
Richard
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+----------------------------------------+
Richard Johnson
Roma District
Tel: (07) 4622 4266 Fax: (07) 46 22 4151
E-mail:
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