wild animal update
+ At least two of the robins have fledged, leaving two more in the nest. Aren shot this film while they were still all in the nest.
+ The raccoons are back. Last night, two of them attacked a third on our roof. They made awful noises. We tried to dissaude them by yelling and making loud noises but it wasn't until Aren threw water on them that they stopped.
+ There is a cardinal that regularly visits our backyard.
+ More updates to follow from the wild world of our backyard, The Jungle.
+ The raccoons are back. Last night, two of them attacked a third on our roof. They made awful noises. We tried to dissaude them by yelling and making loud noises but it wasn't until Aren threw water on them that they stopped.
+ There is a cardinal that regularly visits our backyard.
+ More updates to follow from the wild world of our backyard, The Jungle.
posted by revaren at 15.5.08
2 Comments:
Um, about that video. Um, I'm not an expert on avian feeding behaviour or anything, but, uh...did I see what I think I saw? Great breakfast viewing.
Okay, I did some research and learned that I am not seeing things. I didn't realize that birds carry away the 'fecal sacs' of nestlings in their beaks, and drop them elsewhere. It's a cleanliness thing. Is that common knowledge? I thought I was witnessing some world class poop eating.
Actually, apparently when the robins are super young, the parents do actually consume the fecal sacs. At that early stage there is not a lot of bacteria in their feces, and 'the droppings are rich in only partially-digested food items.' After the babies leave the nest they stop producing the sacs and just do the regular splashy bird poops.
If you're interested:
http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/spring/FecalSacs.html
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