Bringing Up Chicks
The job of raising young birds
begins with nest building. Once eggs are laid, the parents must keep
them from getting cold, or the embryos inside will die. To make that job
easier, incubating birds develop a brood patch—a featherless area on the
breast that helps warm eggs with body heat.
Parenting Is Hard Work
Watch a nest of robins, House Finches, or other songbirds, and you’ll
quickly realize how hard the parents work. The chicks must be fed every
few minutes, from sunup to sundown, until they are old enough to leave
the nest, usually about two weeks after they hatch. Even after the young
birds have left the nest, they must be fed and protected from predators.
Gradually, they learn to live on their own.
Newly hatched
songbird. © Kenneth H. Thomas - Photo Researchers, Inc.
|
|
After
Hatching
When songbird chicks hatch, they are naked, their eyes are
closed, and they are able to do little more than hold up their
wobbly heads and open their mouths. But young ducks and
gamebirds, such as grouse and quail, are born covered in down
and with their eyes open, able to feed almost immediately. A few
hours after birth, baby Wood Ducks follow their mother out of
the nest hole high in a tree—even though they can’t fly! The
babies fall to the ground, bounce a few times, and then waddle
off after their mother, unharmed by the drop.
|
Baby-sitters
A few birds lay their eggs in other birds’ nests and let
them raise the babies. The most famous is the Brown-headed
Cowbird, which lays its eggs in the nests of other songbirds,
often tossing out the host’s eggs first.
Helping Baby Birds
Sometime you may find a baby bird that has just fledged and
can’t fly well. Leave it alone; it probably isn’t abandoned even
though you can’t see its parents. They may be taking care of its
brothers and sisters.
|
|
A
Yellow Warbler feeding a
Brown-headed Cowbird chick. © E. R. Degginger - Photo
Researchers, Inc.
|
|
