“A few species–like great horned owls–shuffle tentatively along the nearest branch and practice flapping their wings,” says Ellen. “But some take the ‘big leap,’ and there’s no going back.” Which path a bird takes when fledging, she says, depends upon its species and the location of its nest.
In the Q&A that follows, Ellen’s answers contain green links to audio files from BirdNote’s archive that you won’t want to miss. A recap of earlier stories in our series is at this link; information on how to get BirdNote daily is at the bottom of this page.
the q&a on fledging, with ellen blackstoneQ. As with everything in science, and nature, there’s a word for each aspect of this baby-bird business. Can you brief us on the glossary of terms?
A. Let’s start at the very beginning. Some birds–many shorebirds, ducks, and quail, for instance–areprecocial. They’re up and running as soon as their downy feathers are completely dry from hatching.
Most songbirds, woodpeckers, pigeons, and hummingbirds are altricial–they’re born blind and featherless (like the robin in the photo below). “Altricial” is from the Latin for “nurse,” which fits, because these helpless babies need a lot of tending before they’re ready to leave the nest.
When altricial birds do finally fledge, or leave the nest, they generally leave it for good. Although you may picture young birds being out and about in their first few days on the
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