How to Understand the Birds [ 47 



of the security of parental care and affection, children greatly 

 enjoy hearing about the devoted family life of birds. How proud 

 the mother hen is of her chicks as she struts about the barnyard, 

 clucking loudly to call attention to her brood! In the wilds, where 

 danger constantly threatens, the mother bird's behavior may be 

 quite the opposite she does everything possible to make her 

 brood inconspicuous. A grouse, sensing an intruder, will go to 

 the extreme of chirping pitifully while thrashing along the ground 

 as if hurt. This serves two purposes. Her cry warns the young to 

 remain quiet or escape from the danger, and her movements divert 

 attention from her little family. 



How BIRD BABIES ARE FED 



Bird babies have enormous appetites. Until they are able 

 to take care of themselves, their parents must find and bring them 

 food. The fledglings usually feed on insects, even though many of 

 them will grow up to be seed-eaters. In species where the young 

 are most helpless the mourning dove, for example the parent 

 first swallows the food and then feeds it to them in partly digested 

 form. That is why one of these birds, unlike so many other bird 

 parents, is never seen flying back to the nest with food in its bill. 



Children occasionally have the good fortune to watch baby birds 

 being fed. More often the children see pictures of the birds at 

 feeding time, and they may notice that feeding techniques vary 

 with different birds. The most common method is for the parent 

 to push its bill down the baby's throat a method that prevents 

 any live insect from escaping. With pelicans and certain other 

 species that regurgitate food, the process is reversed: The baby 

 puts its head in its mother's throat pouch or takes food from her 

 bill. The babies' need for water is satisfied by the moisture in their 

 solid food. 



Parents often continue feeding the young after they have left 

 the nest; but at this point the feeding methods are no longer so 

 painstaking. The swallows are particularly interesting to observe 

 at this stage of development. While in the nest, the young bird 

 has food carefully placed down its throat. But once the fledgling 

 is able to hop away from the nest, it must be on the alert with 



