Jamspangle
Up the boro!
Just wanted to share with anyone interested a nice little bit of behaviour witnessed yesterday.
Sat in a hide on the colony i saw a bird with 2 chicks. They are just big enough not to require brooding, but the adult (female i believe) was staying close to them, but wandering about, trying out scrapes etc. then she comes across abandoned eggs that i know for a fact aren't hers. She immediately settled on them, going through the motions of tucking them under her, only to stand up and walk off as soon as she got settled.
Is this an example of the stereotyped behaviour of birds? I can imagine that birds that don't have an urge to cover eggs would be selected against as they'd occasionally leave their own eggs uncovered, the price to pay for this behaviour is that occasionally you find yourself sat on someone else's eggs.
I must admit that after working with them Little Terns do strike you as being a little on the dim side. For example you don't need walking into the hide as you would with most birds. I can enter the hide unaccompanied no more than 8m from a bird and it will settle back down minutes after i've 'vanished' without it worrying where i've gone, even though the ringed plovers know i'm there and are 'hoo-wicking' their consternation. No wonder little terns are endangered!
Sat in a hide on the colony i saw a bird with 2 chicks. They are just big enough not to require brooding, but the adult (female i believe) was staying close to them, but wandering about, trying out scrapes etc. then she comes across abandoned eggs that i know for a fact aren't hers. She immediately settled on them, going through the motions of tucking them under her, only to stand up and walk off as soon as she got settled.
Is this an example of the stereotyped behaviour of birds? I can imagine that birds that don't have an urge to cover eggs would be selected against as they'd occasionally leave their own eggs uncovered, the price to pay for this behaviour is that occasionally you find yourself sat on someone else's eggs.
I must admit that after working with them Little Terns do strike you as being a little on the dim side. For example you don't need walking into the hide as you would with most birds. I can enter the hide unaccompanied no more than 8m from a bird and it will settle back down minutes after i've 'vanished' without it worrying where i've gone, even though the ringed plovers know i'm there and are 'hoo-wicking' their consternation. No wonder little terns are endangered!