16 Jan 2017
Since the immature baby fell out of the nest hole and died, the parents have continued to feed the babies in the nest. Their piping and chirping has been increasingly loud, and today another baby has left the nest hole. This one is big enough to fly.
As we’ve covered all the big main windows, it’s flown up to the high clerestory windows, at the far end of the house from the nest (just below where the parents often enter and exit the house).
It’s been sitting there, piping plaintively, for a few hours; at times, moving to a different spot, but ending back up there, on the bottom frame of the windows. It’s kept up the piping call most of the time, echoed by a sibling from the nest hole.
The parents are still flying in with food for the babies in the nest hole, and at times they try to encourage the baby with the offer of food and with melodious trilling calls.
At one stage, a parent bird perched above me and "chirred" at me (or was it just warning/looking for the stray baby, who had gone silent and was out of sight?).
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A little later, as I was filming the baby calling, a parent flew in just above it with some food in its beak and sat on the top of the window frame, chirruping at the baby. It flew down and fed the baby, then went back outside for more food.
It seemed that if the baby was up high, it could get fed, but if on the ground, as the previous one, it was ‘out of reach’. What a shame my improvised ‘nest box’ hadn’t worked with the other one.
As I was writing this up, I heard an urgent “phe-WHIT! phe-WHIT!” at the window, and there were 2 birds perched at the top of the window frame. I grabbed my camera but only recorded a second before my battery died.
Somehow the baby had got the message to fly up to the top…. Next thing, they were both outside. Then one was flapping back at the window from outside.
The parent called again, and the little one flew off.
I had been too slow to get my camera on to video, so I went outside and taped the calls of the parent going “PHE-ew!”, another Pardalote calling and some chirruping. I could see at least 3 birds flitting amongst the leaves, but none stayed close enough or clear enough for a photo.
Now the only ‘piping’ call was from the nest hole inside – at least 2 more babies there.
Outside, there’s the occasional “phe-WHIT!”, so it sounds as if the baby may be getting a few lessons, and the feeding visits inside have slowed down a bit.
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