Ingrijire Parentala

Lecture 13
Growth & Parental Care

Hatching is a physical challenge for the chick
Chicks are limited by space inside the egg
Chicks go into a tucking position in order to increase the

efficiency of pipping (breaking the eggshell)
Chicks have a hatchling muscle that helps the chick break out
of the egg
The chick pecks weakly but consistently

Hatching
Chicks have a calcified egg tooth on the tip of the bills that
helps the chick to break the shell
Egg tooth fall off soon after hatching, songbirds absorb the egg tooth
Hatching
Most birds chip a big hole out of the eggshell and finally shatter it with
their body movements
Prompt removal of shells helps protect the nest
In some species the shell is eaten
Eggs can hatch either synchronously or asynchronously

Hatching
Eggs can hatch either synchronously or asynchronously
Staggered, asynchronous hatching reflects the onset of incubation

before the clutch is complete
The first to hatch have an advantage
Synchronous hatching is the result of differences in the rate of

development and coordinated efforts to synchronize the emergence from
the egg.
Nestlings
After hatching most chicks can not feed themselves or thermoregulate
Parents have to brood and feed chicks for at least a few days
The first few days after hatching are important in the development and
behavior of a chick
The nature vs. nurture debate been shown to be a false dichotomy
Some birds imprint on ‘parents’
Imprint not only on morphological characters but also voice

Nestlings
Although Bank Swallows and Rough-winged Swallows are closely
related Bank Swallows identify their young while Rough-winged
Swallows do not.
Modes of Development
Superprecocial – wholly independent
Moundbuilders – chick independent at hatching
Precocial – leave the nest immediately and follow the parents and can
feed after hatching
Subprecocial - leave the nest immediately and follow the parents but
can not feed themselves
Semiprecocial – capable of thermoregulation, mobile, but stay in the
nest
Semialtricial – stay in the nest although able to leave the nest within a
few hours
Altricial – naked, blind, and helpless.

Summary of characteristics of young birds at hatching (Nice 1962):
Type of Down Eyes Feed Parents

Mobile? Examples
Development present? open? Themselves? present?
Superprecocial Yes Yes Yes Yes No megapodes

Yes (follow
waterfowl,
Precocial Yes Yes Yes parents & find Yes
shorebirds
own food)
Yes (may be
grebes, rails,
Subprecocial Yes Yes Yes shown food by Yes
cranes, & loons
parents)
Yes, but remain gulls & terns,
Semiprecocial Yes Yes No Yes
in nest penguins
hawks, herons
Semialtricial 1 Yes Yes No No Yes
& egrets
Semialtricial 2 Yes No No No Yes owls
Altricial No No No No Yes songbirds

The food of most precocial chicks can be easily obtained
Altricial young live on food that require adult skills
Precocial mode is the original mode of development
Altricial development appears to be a necessary prerequisite for the

evolution of a large adult brain.
Altricial development substitutes cared for functional differentiation of

the brain (allows the brain to develop after hatching)
A 121 million-year-old baby arboreal bird, fossilized in its egg, found in China
(Zhou and Zhang 2004) -- The fossil has piqued researcher's interest because it had
feathers, whereas many modern birds are naked and helpless when they hatch. The
researchers know the bird, found in northeast China, was an embryo because the
fossil is tucked up in very characteristic way for an unhatched chick. "The tucked
posture of the fossil is consistent with a late-stage embryo rather than with a
hatchling, in which case the head would have raised beyond the vicinity of the feet,"
said authors Zhonghe Zhou and Fucheng Zhang. The interesting thing about this bird
is that for something that has not yet hatched, it is almost fully formed, meaning the
bird must have been prococial. Most modern arboreal (tree dwelling) birds are altricial
so they can grow to almost full-size in a protected environment, like a nest, before
they must attempt the risky business of flying. The fact that this bird - which lived
during the Lower Cretaceous - was precocial suggests it did not have the same
luxury as its modern day counterparts. It may have been forced to make its own way
in the world much sooner. "The fact that its feathers were so well developed could
mean that these things could fly quite soon after they hatched," said Dr Milner of
London's Natural History Museum. This fossil supports the notion that the first birds
had not yet developed the altricial strategy, with all the intensive parental care that it
entails. "It is generally believed that precociality is ancient and altriciality is derived,"
said Dr Zhou and Dr Zhang in their paper.
Also see: Earliest Unhatched-Bird Fossil Found — Old as Dinosaurs
Energy and Nutrition
Chicks require energy to grow
They need calcium to grown and some chicks are fed bones
Longspurs are feed lemming bones and teeth
Fruit-eating birds grow half as fast as insect eaters
Three species produce esophageal fluids

Pigeons
Flamingos
Penguins
Rate de crestere
Cresterea urmeaza o curba sigmoida
Sibling Rivalry
Vicious rivalry between chicks is normal in birds

particularly when eggs hatch asynchronously
Parents most often do not react
Boobies example
Rarely do raptors fledge both chicks
Why lay two eggs?
Sibicide may be correlated with food

ex. Great blue herons and Great Egrets
Feeding of Nestlings
Begging intensity often regulates food activity
The biggest and loudest mouths often get the food

This is not the case in budgerigars
The gape of chicks may help the parent ‘hit the target’ and in the
identification of the young
Food delivery rate varies from once per minute to once every three
days
990 trips per day in Great Tits
Black Swifts example
Nest Sanitation
Some birds keep clean nests while other nests are allowed to become
filthy
In passerines and woodpeckers young excrete fecal sacs
Fecal sacs are sometimes

eaten by adults
Fledgling
Some birds leave their nest before
they can fly
Others first flight is associated with

the initial jump out of the nest
Seabirds and duck often land safely

regardless of bouncing off of jagged
rocks
Moundbuilders dig their way out of

the nest and are independent
Several species exercise in the

nests in preparation for flight
Learning
Once a bird leaves the nest they must learn very quickly what is food,
predators, etc.
Many birds have to learn how to sing correctly
Some species ‘play’ in order to refine their survival skills
Birds must also learn to be good parents, they may learn from an older
mate
Post-fledgling care
Defense

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Lecture 13

Growth & Parental Care

Chicks are limited by space inside the egg

Chicks go into a tucking position in order to increase the

The chick pecks weakly but consistently

Prompt removal of shells helps protect the nest

In some species the shell is eaten

Eggs can hatch either synchronously or asynchronously

Staggered, asynchronous hatching reflects the onset of incubation

The first to hatch have an advantage

Synchronous hatching is the result of differences in the rate of

The nature vs. nurture debate been shown to be a false dichotomy

Some birds imprint on ‘parents’

Imprint not only on morphological characters but also voice

Altricial – naked, blind, and helpless.

Type of Down Eyes Feed Parents

Superprecocial Yes Yes Yes Yes No megapodes

Altricial No No No No Yes songbirds

Altricial young live on food that require adult skills

Precocial mode is the original mode of development

Altricial development appears to be a necessary prerequisite for the

Altricial development substitutes cared for functional differentiation of

Fruit-eating birds grow half as fast as insect eaters

Three species produce esophageal fluids

Vicious rivalry between chicks is normal in birds

Parents most often do not react

Sibicide may be correlated with food

The biggest and loudest mouths often get the food

In passerines and woodpeckers young excrete fecal sacs

Fecal sacs are sometimes

Others first flight is associated with

Seabirds and duck often land safely

Moundbuilders dig their way out of

Several species exercise in the

Many birds have to learn how to sing correctly

Some species ‘play’ in order to refine their survival skills

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