(delhibirdpix) Plumbeous Water Redstart - Fledgling

Common Name : Plumbeous Water Redstart (Fledgling)

 

Scientific name: Rhyacornis fuliginosa fuliginosa

Status in the Region: Common & Resident 

 

Place: Mall Road, Nainital city, Uttaranchal state, India  alt.approx: 1700 mts

 

Site Habitat: It seems that this Juvenile was raised by its parents in a small drain and were feeding it, oblivious of the huge crowd of people passing at a touching distance on the busy Mall road in Nainital Town (a popular hill station)….

 

Date:  29^th May 2010

Equipment: Canon 40 D with Canon 100-400 mm IS lens

Notes:

 

The parental care in birds is quite remarkable. After the eggs are hatched, the parent birds feed the young ones non-stop and literally make them independent in a matter of just a few days. This is very important to their survival as they are constantly vulnerable from the myriad predators when young, hence they need to grow rapidly. Correspondingly the fledglings too have developed the instinct of begging in a way that ensures a non-stop supply.

The intense colour in their mouth signals the parent bird to feed them and triggers their parental instinct. It also perhaps improves the accuracy or speed of food delivery in the darkened (surrounding) environment. The intensity of this colour changes according to the need. The gape size too inflates during this period to accommodate large food particles (fruits, insects etc)…..in some garnivorous / frugivorous birds the food is supplemented with insects to provide the required proteins. I too have observed all this while studying the breeding ecology of larks. Here the fledgling of Plumbeous Water Redstart is signaling its hunger by showing off the orange in its mouth :-) 

 

For the groups which don't allow attachments......here is the link to the photograph...

 

http://www.indianaturewatch.net/displayimage.php?id=157707

 

 

References: click here ....

 

http://www.jstor.org/pss/3592251

 

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123450463/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W9W-45KKV82-S&_user=10&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F1998&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1367479808&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=446ebe5777ed1c1ba801cc49be166a2d

 

http://www.jstor.org/pss/51001

 

 

Regards,

Adesh Shivkar

Mumbai, India

http://natureindia.ning.com/

--
I Believe In God, Only spell It Nature
*******************************************
One should not have a job, career or profession- only a hobby, passion and a cause

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "delhibirdpix" group.
To post to this group, send email to delhibirdpix@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to delhibirdpix+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/delhibirdpix?hl=en.