Denalidaze
A Mouthful_3481
Sometimes a mouthful is not enough for hungry hatchlings. This is a shot from the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm during the spring mating season. Snowy egrets along with other species practice siblicide.
(www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/science/eldon-greij-explai...)
In the clutch of 2-3 eggs, all the food goes to the oldest hatching to insure the strongest grows up to reproduce. It a cruel trick of nature, but this guards against extinction. Both parents show a preference for the older chick. However; if the oldest is full, then the other chicks get whatever is left. Often, the older chick(s) will push the youngest from the nest, and parents do nothing to prevent it! The snowy like to nest near a stream were Alligators swim below. The gators provide them protection from nest predators. Gators like the arrangement, since they eat the small chick before it hits the water. So if you are a snowy egret, birth order does make a big difference.
If you want to read more about siblicide, check out the link above.
A Mouthful_3481
Sometimes a mouthful is not enough for hungry hatchlings. This is a shot from the Saint Augustine Alligator Farm during the spring mating season. Snowy egrets along with other species practice siblicide.
(www.birdwatchingdaily.com/news/science/eldon-greij-explai...)
In the clutch of 2-3 eggs, all the food goes to the oldest hatching to insure the strongest grows up to reproduce. It a cruel trick of nature, but this guards against extinction. Both parents show a preference for the older chick. However; if the oldest is full, then the other chicks get whatever is left. Often, the older chick(s) will push the youngest from the nest, and parents do nothing to prevent it! The snowy like to nest near a stream were Alligators swim below. The gators provide them protection from nest predators. Gators like the arrangement, since they eat the small chick before it hits the water. So if you are a snowy egret, birth order does make a big difference.
If you want to read more about siblicide, check out the link above.