Mrs Wattlebird's Curious Child

[khiemtran]

Since Spring, we've been watching as a pair of Red Wattlebirds made a nest by our driveway. Here you can see Mrs Wattlebird sitting in the nest, with her red wattles showing prominently on her neck.



Last night, as we were sitting outside, Hsiu Lin decided to go over for one more look, fully expecting the nest to be empty and the birds to be gone. However, to her surprise, while the nest did look empty, there was still something in the tree.



As she watched, Mrs Wattlebird came back to the tree. But instead of chasing off the intruder, it started feeding it instead. That's Mrs Wattlebird on the right. As you can see, the other bird is already bigger than she is.



Trying for a closer look. As you can see, the baby is not actually a wattlebird.



It's actually a koel, a type of cuckoo. This one will grow to twice Mrs Wattlebird's size, before migrating north, perhaps to New Guinea or Indonesia.



From Birds in Backyards:
A single egg is laid in the host's nest and once hatched the chick forces the other eggs and hatchlings out of the nest. When the chick leaves the nest it roosts in the outer branches of a tree, cheeping incessantly while the significantly smaller parents desperately search for sufficient food to satisfy the nagging youngster. This is a full-time job, as the young Koel will grow to nearly twice their size.

Here's Mrs Wattlebird, looking decidely more haggard. You have to wonder what she's thinking. Maybe she's excessively proud of her gorgeous and huge baby, despite the constant demands for food.



A close up of the koel. We feel very privileged to be able to watch this little piece of natural drama play out right in front of our home.

Comments

[davesmusictank.livejournal.com]

Gr3at pic!!

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

[amaebi.livejournal.com]

That is so cool that I feel faint.

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, I'm especially pleased that Liem has got to watch this "in the wild" (in so far as our driveway is "the wild"). And it's been a fun family activity trying to spot the birds and look them up.

[puddleshark.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow!

That is one enormous baby...

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

It is! The two little red wattlebirds must be run off their feet...

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Such complicated feelings. Poor mother wattlebird! And yet as you say, maybe she's quite pleased with her giant baby! And the koel youngster doesn't mean any harm--just trying to get comfortable, and what are these other pesky eggs doing in here? And to him, mother wattlebird is his only parent, so...

...And all of this is just anthropomorphizing, anyway, I realize...

(The photos are marvelous.)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Yes, there are so many questions, aren't there? I would have to think that if the parents spend so much time feeding the baby, then surely they must love it. But maybe they do realise it's not theirs and they love it anyway.

I wonder if it will still be there when we get back. (Ironically, I can hear koels outside as I write this, but apparently the ones from Australia don't migrate this far north.)

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

But maybe they do realise it's not theirs and they love it anyway.

♥ What a lovely thought. I'm getting a bit choked up. Yes, maybe they do.

I like to think they love

[mnfaure.livejournal.com]

This is what I've always hoped when reading about cuckoos. Like you said, asakiyume, complicated feelings...

Re: I like to think they love

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

I had *never* thought of this possibility before now, I'm chagrinned to say. I'd always just imagined the poor parent run off their feet (wings), exhausted, thinking they'd given birth to a monster. I like this other possibility much, much more. It gives me a retroactive sense of relief and happiness.