Wing Fluttering (7 Viewers)

[Suzywong]

I've been enjoying watching the blue tit parents continuously binging food to the chicks in nest box I made for them; this is the second season the box has been used.

The feeding is relentless and I've been fascinated to notice that when both parents arrive with food at the same time, they definitely communicate to one another by a sort of 'wing fluttering' system! Has anyone else notices this? Maybe it's to tell one another who to go in first with the food. If one parent arrives before the other and goes in to the box, and then the other arrives and subsequently goes in, the first parent always leaves immediately. Probably there's not much room in there for all the family? The chicks must be quite large by now and I'm sure they will be soon to fledge, which I'm hoping to see this year as I missed it last time.

So, anyone else ever noticed this 'wing fluttering' communication? Both birds are stationery when they do this, and usually perched on the fence or a bush near the box.

Also, as I don't have a camera in the box, I was wondering where would the parents spend the night? Would they stay in the box with the family?

I saw the wing fluttering today. I thought the birds were courting then I realised they were going to a nest with food in their beaks!

 

[LucaPCP]

Wing fluttering a one of my favourite pieces of behaviour. I don't think it communicates anything much more than non-aggression/non-dominance in the simplest form of the explanation. Young birds use the signal to beg for food but it is often used by the female during courtship. Females will often beg for the food a male has brought to woo her with but they also crouch and wing-flutter to show they are receptive when they are ready to mate. A pair of birds approaching a nest would be telling the other that it was not being aggressive in the simplest and quickest way possible without having to go through the more complex recognition signals associated with pair-bonding. The bird that showed the lowest level of dominance would probably be the bird that took the food in second, BTW.

Today I noticed wing fluttering by two adult mountain chickadees, just before they proceeded to mating in proximity of their nest site, which was under construction.

 

[Paul East]

I've been enjoying watching the blue tit parents continuously binging food to the chicks in nest box I made for them; this is the second season the box has been used.

The feeding is relentless and I've been fascinated to notice that when both parents arrive with food at the same time, they definitely communicate to one another by a sort of 'wing fluttering' system! Has anyone else notices this? Maybe it's to tell one another who to go in first with the food. If one parent arrives before the other and goes in to the box, and then the other arrives and subsequently goes in, the first parent always leaves immediately. Probably there's not much room in there for all the family? The chicks must be quite large by now and I'm sure they will be soon to fledge, which I'm hoping to see this year as I missed it last time.

So, anyone else ever noticed this 'wing fluttering' communication? Both birds are stationery when they do this, and usually perched on the fence or a bush near the box.

Also, as I don't have a camera in the box, I was wondering where would the parents spend the night? Would they stay in the box with the family?

That is exactly the behaviour I am seeing from a pair of bluetits with what looks to be an occupied nest box. I've never seen it in any other situation. It has the advantage of silence (keeping the nest hidden) but obviously requires "line of sight" between parent birds. My guess is it is a "handshake" indicating both that "all is well" and "chicks want feeding". Our garden is currently in full leaf with Buddleia, ivy and Virginia Creeper so we'd hope there was plenty of grub(s) for the offspring.

 

[Richard Prior]

It’s primarily a pair bonding behaviour, it seems to me from observing various tit species over the years. During courtship and nest building the male will bring a tasty morsel and give it to the female who will solicit the gift with wing fluttering. Often during the incubation period the male will arrive near the nest and call, whereupon the female will briefly quit the nest to receive the snack. The wing fluttering continues during the fetching and carrying for the young as others have mentioned since this thread began (12 years ago!).

 

[Paul East]

I've been enjoying watching the blue tit parents continuously binging food to the chicks in nest box I made for them; this is the second season the box has been used.

The feeding is relentless and I've been fascinated to notice that when both parents arrive with food at the same time, they definitely communicate to one another by a sort of 'wing fluttering' system! Has anyone else notices this? Maybe it's to tell one another who to go in first with the food. If one parent arrives before the other and goes in to the box, and then the other arrives and subsequently goes in, the first parent always leaves immediately. Probably there's not much room in there for all the family? The chicks must be quite large by now and I'm sure they will be soon to fledge, which I'm hoping to see this year as I missed it last time.

So, anyone else ever noticed this 'wing fluttering' communication? Both birds are stationery when they do this, and usually perched on the fence or a bush near the box.

Also, as I don't have a camera in the box, I was wondering where would the parents spend the night? Would they stay in the box with the family?

I have seen exactly that behaviour repeatedly.