Raptors are keenly aware of juvenile birds. Off they’d go, sometimes at great length and other times just for a short stretch of the wings. While the pair was brooding the chick and continuing until a few days after Star had fledged, it was typical that both birds would go out to fly when I opened their door. Free Flying BehaviorĪnother change in parental behavior involves Flash and Bebe’s free flying. I answered my own question by providing one more feeding station and the resource guarding ceased. We can see it in a group of horses when fed communally in a paddock. We may see it between two companion dogs when they are fed their dinner. Providing only one food station in a captive environment can cause resource guarding. That there is an “argument” between Flash and Bebe over food access in the aviary is probably due to limited availability, since there has been only one feeding station. When I fill up the food station, the controlling parent at the time will not allow the other admission to it.Īgain, I ask “Why is this?” How does this relate to cockatoo behavior in the wild? Do paired cockatoos keep their mates from accessing food in nature? Most likely not, since there is probably food readily available elsewhere. Star, at 13 weeks of age, is still being fed regurgitated food by her parents, so whoever is on Star-watch will feed her. If anyone has any other ideas or information regarding this behavior, please leave a comment. I could not find detailed descriptions of wild Bare-eyed Cockatoo nesting behavior, so this is the best explanation I can come up with at this time. This is all just conjecture on my part and may well make no sense at all. When one mate leaves the fledgling’s side, the other swoops in to take over, regardless of whether enough time has elapsed. In the aviary, food is conveniently only a few wing-beats away. When the far-ranging mate returns, the length of time has been such that the at-home mate is ready to leave the nest box, thus letting the returned cockatoo take over brooding duties. In the wild, while one bird broods the egg or chick, the other would typically be out for some length of time finding food. ![]() I’m thinking that this may be a natural behavior, distorted by captivity. What I haven’t observed before is anything like this constant changing of who’s “in charge” of Star. I was aware of that conduct, having bred cockatoos myself. He did mention, though, that in captive breeding situations cockatoos can be quite difficult, as some males show intense aggression towards their mates before going to nest.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |