birding-aus

Feigning a broken wing

To: <>
Subject: Feigning a broken wing
From: "Gordon and Pam Cain" <>
Date: Sun, 1 Apr 2007 21:18:26 +1000
Back in January my son and I were pruning a hedge. We unwittingly got to
close to the nest of a spotted turtle dove with one young in the nest.

 

Mum flew off and, a safe distance down our yard, landed and feigned a broken
wing. We had only ever read of this in a Kipling Story with the Indian
tailorbird.

 

How common is this behaviour? And amongst Australian birds?

 

(The sad ending to this story is that a few days later we found the baby
bird dead on the ground, although we had stayed right away from it after
rousing the mother from her nest - we never touched it or anything - but
then, I have read that pigeon young in the nest are especially vulnerable
and always to stay a LONG way from them. A sad way to learn!)

 

Interested in your stories and experiences, and the communal store of
knowledge on this one.

 

Cheers

Gordon Cain

Schofields

Blacktown, NW Sydney

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