Evelyn Cooper
05-31-2009, 04:59 PM
By Sharon Bates and Duane Rice
Written with Permssion
"Our" adult female EAstern BLuebird was pecking one of her fledglings. There the young one was from her own brood. My husband had put out a "snack" of Mealworms in the feeder, while the fledgling was waiting on our shed roof about ten feet away, with the adult female sitting quietly beside him, which is another indication to me he was her own chick. Then, the female flew to the box and helped herself to a grub or two. When she flew out, she headed straight toward the young one on the shed roof, and proceeded to hover over it, pecking him on his head and body. I couldn't clearly tell if he was "begging" or not before Mama started pecking him....it happened too quickly. The baby was in a cowering position during the "onslaught". The behavior only lasted about four or five seconds, but that's probably a long time to be pecked by "Mama". Then, the female flew to the Mealworm box again as if nothing unusual happened....although it was to me. The fledgling then flew to a nearby tree about 30 to 40 seconds later with no indication he was injured in any way. This was the same female I wrote about seen pecking her mate after copulation, and I'm positive it's the same female in both instances because of an unusual marking she has. I will add that the little one's siblings no longer beg to be fed, and are totally on their own. Is it possible he was the last to hatch from her brood who still wanted to be fed, but she wanted him gone? Her babies fledged almost three weeks ago. Has this behavior been seen by anyone else?
Normally, both our bluebird parents are exemplary, so this was a complete
surprise to me.
Sharon
Winston Salem, NC
Duane Rice writes:
This falls under the "cruel to be kind" type behavior, which is not specific to just bluebirds. I have witnessed this behavior in many species. It usually takes place around the time the adults are starting the next brood, and who can blame them. Enough already!
It's like when my twelve year old daughter says she's "starving", and expects me to drop everything to fix her something to eat.(my fault)
She knows how to use the microwave, there's plenty of food in the frig, she's capable of doing it herself, I explain.
I'm sure she feels like she's been pecked in the head, but, what I'm really doing, is (trying to) teaching her to be self suficient,independent, and confident.
As parents, we do a lot of unlearning with our children as they begin the process of fledging. First, we teach them they can't survive without us, then we have to teach them they can.
Sorry to drift, but there's a thread.
If you continue to watch, you'll see no real harm is done, other than hurt feelings. But in the end, the fledgling learns to stop the begging, and start feeding. The younger ones watch the older ones, and then learn from them.
It's really not so strange after all.
dr
Written with Permssion
"Our" adult female EAstern BLuebird was pecking one of her fledglings. There the young one was from her own brood. My husband had put out a "snack" of Mealworms in the feeder, while the fledgling was waiting on our shed roof about ten feet away, with the adult female sitting quietly beside him, which is another indication to me he was her own chick. Then, the female flew to the box and helped herself to a grub or two. When she flew out, she headed straight toward the young one on the shed roof, and proceeded to hover over it, pecking him on his head and body. I couldn't clearly tell if he was "begging" or not before Mama started pecking him....it happened too quickly. The baby was in a cowering position during the "onslaught". The behavior only lasted about four or five seconds, but that's probably a long time to be pecked by "Mama". Then, the female flew to the Mealworm box again as if nothing unusual happened....although it was to me. The fledgling then flew to a nearby tree about 30 to 40 seconds later with no indication he was injured in any way. This was the same female I wrote about seen pecking her mate after copulation, and I'm positive it's the same female in both instances because of an unusual marking she has. I will add that the little one's siblings no longer beg to be fed, and are totally on their own. Is it possible he was the last to hatch from her brood who still wanted to be fed, but she wanted him gone? Her babies fledged almost three weeks ago. Has this behavior been seen by anyone else?
Normally, both our bluebird parents are exemplary, so this was a complete
surprise to me.
Sharon
Winston Salem, NC
Duane Rice writes:
This falls under the "cruel to be kind" type behavior, which is not specific to just bluebirds. I have witnessed this behavior in many species. It usually takes place around the time the adults are starting the next brood, and who can blame them. Enough already!
It's like when my twelve year old daughter says she's "starving", and expects me to drop everything to fix her something to eat.(my fault)
She knows how to use the microwave, there's plenty of food in the frig, she's capable of doing it herself, I explain.
I'm sure she feels like she's been pecked in the head, but, what I'm really doing, is (trying to) teaching her to be self suficient,independent, and confident.
As parents, we do a lot of unlearning with our children as they begin the process of fledging. First, we teach them they can't survive without us, then we have to teach them they can.
Sorry to drift, but there's a thread.
If you continue to watch, you'll see no real harm is done, other than hurt feelings. But in the end, the fledgling learns to stop the begging, and start feeding. The younger ones watch the older ones, and then learn from them.
It's really not so strange after all.
dr