parish council - Hockwold-cum-Wilton

Feed Me!
My first experience of watching birds nesting was at Symonds Yat in
Gloucestershire when I was nine. I was watching a pair of peregrine falcons feeding
their young high above a bend in the River Wye. Both parents were feeding
their hungry chicks some kind of tasty morsels (most likely to be bits of pigeon,
tasty!)
This meant that for many years, I thought the situation regarding feeding
young was the same for all birds. However, when I renewed my interest in wildlife
seven years ago, this image was shattered! I gradually found out that for many
birds, it is just not that simple!
Starting off with Britain’s commonest bird, the wren, I found out that male
wrens are extra busy. They must get a super parental instinct, as whilst their mates
are incubating, they often respond to the cries of other young birds and feed them,
even if they are a different species! One example is one male being observed feeding
an entire nestbox full of hungry great tit chicks!
Also on the subject of little birds, long tailed tits sometimes become “uncles”
and “aunties.” If they lose their own nests, adults may assist neighbours that are
still rearing their young. Well, if it helps to get the job done then why not?!
If long tailed tits are the “uncles” and “aunties”, then young moorhens
sometimes fall into the category of “helpful elder sibling.” These wetland loving
rails tend to have more than one brood in a year. Paternal responsibility must be
instilled at an early age because juveniles are often seen feeding smaller young
from later broods. How cute!
The situation gets even more complicated when we look at some of our reedbed
specialists here at Lakenheath Fen. Marsh harriers and bitterns are polygamous.
This means that one male serves more than one female. This leads to some
interesting consequences...............
The young will be in the nest accepting the food that they are given. They
will be blissfully unaware that the male that is delivering their food is also busy
elsewhere. The male in question is also very likely to be supplying food to some
unknown “half brothers and sisters” in a completely different nest. This sounds
positively scandalous!
This leaves the most devious British bird of all, the cuckoo. They are notorious
for being nest parasites. This means that every young cuckoo has been fed by a
poor bird of a completely different species. The “host” species is blissfully unaware
that the bird it is feeding is definitely not one of its own!
If I read this article as that nine year old boy, I certainly wouldn’t have believed
half of the information that I have just written. It just goes to show that the
breeding and behaviour of many birds is a lot more complicated than it looks!
David White—Information Officer - RSPB Lakenheath Fen