regarding Madonna‘s neat observations of young bluebirds “helping to feed” their younger siblings : I have just been reading “the bird way: a new look at how birds talk, work, play, parent, and think” by Jennifer Ackerman.
She discusses novel, unexpected bird behaviors & said Louis Lefebvre of McGill University in his work on bird behavioral flexibility “combed through journals of the past 75 years and found more than 2000 reports of … innovative behaviors in birds of different species.” So, here we have another example of that, perhaps. Donna Scott Kendal at Ithaca-377 Sent from my iPhone On Jul 26, 2024, at 11:54 AM, [email protected] wrote: Western bluebirds do have “ help at the nest” from previous young (year old ones) but I wasn’t aware of it in Eastern Bluebirds. And especially not young of the same year! I thought I saw this in barn swallows—well, not feeding but bombing me around a second nest— when I was myself a kid. If others know of reports or published descriptions, please share! One wonders if climate change will make later nesting/ renesting more advantageous. Might change these familial behaviors or offer more opportunities. Anne Sent from my iPhone On Jul 26, 2024, at 8:43 AM, madonna stallmann <[email protected]> wrote: Hi bird friends! We've been having fun watching our bluebird nest box! This year we've had the pleasure of watching the first of the year nestlings hang out with the parents, and to our surprise they are even "helping" feed the second brood! I'm curious as to whether others in this group have witnessed this behavior? I would love to hear your stories. Anyone? ❤️🐦, Madonna Stallmann -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME.htm> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> ABA<https://www.aba.org/birding-news/> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME.htm> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES.htm> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> ABA<https://www.aba.org/birding-news/> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- (copy & paste any URL below, then modify any text "_DOT_" to a period ".") Cayugabirds-L List Info: NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsWELCOME_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsRULES_DOT_htm NortheastBirding_DOT_com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave_DOT_htm ARCHIVES: 1) mail-archive_DOT_com/cayugabirds-l@cornell_DOT_edu/maillist_DOT_html 2) surfbirds_DOT_com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) aba_DOT_org/birding-news/ Please submit your observations to eBird: ebird_DOT_org/content/ebird/ --
