Parental Guidance

  Usually in the avian world, parents can hatch eggs, feed young and train them to be on their own merry way in just a matter of a couple of months.  Once the little ones learn to fly well and can hunt for their own food, the parents leave them to their own resources.  This is to allow the adults to start the process over again and have several broods during the warmer seasons.  The little birds are usually well on their way to survival when they are less than a month old.  

  I say "usually" because there are occasions when a parent bird will remain with the young for a longer time.  I have been watching the birds on the Bayou for a good many years and can say that one of my favorites is the Yellow-crowned Night Heron.  This bird is one of the smartest birds around as the ones here have figured out that they can beg for food.  It is these night herons that will befriend me enough that they will eat from my hand.  I do have to watch the fingers, though, as they would just as soon snatch that as the mullet that I am offering. While observing the Yellow-crowned Night Herons, I have come to realize that they are some of the few birds that spend a bit more time raising their young.  Even if the parent birds have a second brood during the summer, the juveniles from the previous brood are still being trained to find food.  The last brood of the season finds the mother bird tending the youngsters well into the winter months.  This, I am almost certain, is to assure that the juvenile birds will survive during the lean times.  Fish and crabs are far more plentiful during the warm months.  The birds find plenty to eat then but later in the year, food is scarce.  It takes the guidance of a parent bird to help the youngsters survive.

  A pair of the night herons were bracing against the cold north wind recently.  I noticed that the pair included one adult bird and one youngster.  Perhaps this is the lone survivor of the last brood.  They both appeared healthy enough and seemed to prefer each other's company over mine.  With the north wind pushing the tide far from the pier, it was probably a lot easier for them to get food than for me to try to give a helping hand.  Mama Bird had this.  She needed no help from me!