In this week's Show Me a Photo contest, it's the little ones turn to have the spotlight! The theme is young birds, so time to let the geek in me loose and annoy you with some young bird facts! 😁 But fear not, I'll add some photos with it!
You probably know by now that different bird species develop at different speeds. Some are totally dependent from their parents for the first weeks/months, while some leave the nest on the same day they hatch!
Altricial is the name given to the first group. The ones that are born naked and with eyes closed, and are fed by their parents until they are ready to leave the nest, which only happens later in life. All passerines are altricial.
Do you want to see what an altricial bird looks like?
This is a peach faced lovebird, Agapornis roseicollis, with just a few weeks. It was one of my patients! Their mother wasn't doing its job, so they had to be hand fed. I say they because... this little guy had a brother!
Notice the huge development difference? These are birds from the same clutch, but only the yellow one was developing properly.
Luckily, the little one developed nicely after some care!
Here's another example, this time a wild one. If you're portuguese, you have seen them for sure!
Nests of the common house martin, Delichon urbicum, are abundant. And it's not uncommon to see the little ones peaking from the nest, hoping their fathers are arriving with the day's lunch!
These photos were taken very near Summer, so they would be flying out of the nest really soon.
Precocial is the name given to the second group I've mentioned. Precocial birds born with eyes open, most of them with plummage, and follow their fathers away from the nest soon after birth! There are different levels of precocial birds, some developing more rapidly than others. And one example of a precocial bird is our well know domestic duck!
How cute are these guys?
And some already with a temper, this one refused to pose for the photo! 😁
Another precocial species competes with the ducklings in the cuteness level. How about... peachicks?
I lost count to the amount of times I've seen peacocks in urban gardens, but I think this was the first time I saw peachicks! And there were plenty of them here!
It's funny how they have the tiny crest from such an early age. They were roamin freely in the park, but with the close company of the peahen.
They weren't shy at all, thow. Probably used to human presence since birth, they could come pretty close, while scouting the ground for food.
No juvenile bird photos on this edition. But I'll add another curiosity: in most species with sexual dimorphism (meaning adult birds have different colour patterns), juveniles commonly have similar plummage to the adult females.
I'll skip this contest next week, but will be sure to check the entries while sunbathing during some well deserved vacations!
Happy birding everyone!
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