|
Getting to see hoodie chicks is a rare sight because the parents can see a person coming way before we see them, and therefore have usually sent their chicks into hiding by the time you spot the adults! So how on earth would you tell if they have chicks?! Well, the adults have some giveaway behaviours that reveal they are hiding something!
Hoodie chicks:
-Spend loads of time hiding from danger (which at this age is pretty much everything!);
-must feed lots and almost always at the waters edge or high-tide mark; and
-are extremely well camouflag
Because chicks are so well hard to see you need to be very careful where you
walk if you think you might be near or chicks. Contact the beach-nesting birds
team for further info on how to monitor these birds safely.
Distraction displays
|
It is rare to see an adult give a distraction display when there are eggs (usually when these are a few days away from hatching); almost always is associated with there being chicks.
If you see this YOU ARE VERY CLOSE to the chicks! It is best to follow the adult birds who will always be leading you away from their chicks, checking very carefully where you step.
|
Distraction displays can be either a:
Rodent run: bird(s) crouch low and run with wings out and tail dragging, or a
Broken wing display: bird(s) twist wings and feigns injury, running along ground, lying on the sand with wings spread.
|
|
Click to images to enlarge
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bobbing
|
|
Chicks need to be brooded frequently after hatching.
Chicks are generally brooded up to around 10 days of age at which point they are better able to regulate their own temperatures (and are frankly a bit big for mum or dad).
Adult birds can appear puffed up when brooding chicks, and they can brood their chicks for extended periods - especially when it’s hot.
Real brooding (above) looks very different to “false brooding” (below).
|
Predator aggression
Parents are very aggressive towards potential predators once the chicks hatch. This includes silver gulls, ravens/crows, magpies and even innocent birds like willy wagtails or white-fronted chats! There’s good reason for this as chick are extremely vulnerable to predators. Most often the chicks will be hiding while mum and/or dad is taking care of the “bad guys”.
Chick aggression
While the “bad guys” are generally predators like other birds or foxes, sometimes hoodies can be extremely aggressive to their own kind. When territories are close together or an intruder is trying to break a pair up hoodies can attack and even kill another pairs chick! Not surprisingly parents are not happy with this and defend their chicks extremely aggressively.
This aggression can be a little hard to differentiate from territorial aggression such as bowing, particularly because chick are generally sent into hiding by parents, but in general it’s much more serious!
Chick here for images of a chick attack - with a happy ending!
|
Predator leading
|
|
|
|
Hoodies can lead potential predators such as Silver Gulls and will also employ tactics such as false feeding to attract the predators away from nests and/or chicks. Pretty cunning for such a little bird!
|
Feeding (chicks)
|
|
Eggs hatch within hours of one another and the tiny chicks must learn to walk and find food immediately after hatching!
Chicks are generally brooded up to around 10 days of age at which point they are better able to regulate their own temperatures (and are frankly a bit big for mum or dad).
The chicks will spend most of their undisturbed time feeding at the water’s edge, out on rock platforms (if available) and amongst the seaweed along the high tide mark.
|
|
Hiding / taking cover (chicks)
When disturbed, the parents call out and the chicks either crouch down immediately in the open or run to cover. Cover can be anything on the beach - e.g. cuttlebone or a bit of seaweed or driftwood or chicks run up the beach towards the dune to hide amongst the vegetation. They are amazingly difficult to see, even when they’re right in front of you! So if you think there are chick around be very careful where you step. Chicks also use the artificial shelters we provide.
|
|
Chick here for images of a chick attack - with a happy ending!
|
