Fledged! : Kingfisher Family
‘Woaahhh, I’m still wobbly.’
When I finished my blog entry last night, never did I imagine that I would end up doing another update the following day! But here I am, because I saw the first fledgling leave the nest this morning.
I had some premonitions that I must go and check on them everyday for the next five days. But my motivation to go and see the kingfishers this morning was more to do with my lesson that I should have kept a more objective record of their daily activities or lack thereof with specific time stamp. That way, I thought I would have been able to make more reliable educated guess on the timing of the chicks fledging. I might be late for the current brood, but there would be no harm in starting as soon as you’ve learned some important lesson, that was my thinking.
From about nine o’clock the feeding by the parents started. Then at 11:40 a kingfisher jumped out of the nest hole (I presume here as the nest is far and totally invisible) to the nearest branch but wobbled, which was unthinkable for the parents, and it started to flap its wings energetically which also made it lose balance more on the perch. But instead of spending substantial amount of time on the branch, it turned around and flew off.
The dull plumage overall and greyish feet are how to differentiate kingfisher young from adults.
An hour later, the male arrived with fish.
‘Such a dependable kingfisher dad’
‘Dad’s home with fish delivery!’
When he came out after feeding the chicks, instead of flying out straight towards his next fishing spot as he would have normally done, he perched and pondered temporarily as if to suggest that he was a bit perplexed by the number of chicks inside. He tilted his head up slightly as if to look for the missing chick who had fledged an hour earlier in his absence.
‘How many children did I have?’
This photograph of the male kingfisher is rather poignant - because as a result of my research into their breeding behaviour, I came to form this rather terrorising image of kingfisher parents purging their young out of their territory as soon as possible so that they could get on with their next brood. However in fact, the male didn’t see the chick fledge, so he might have been understandably worried that the chick might have been taken or eaten by a predator. That slightly worried look on his face is rather universal and transcends species, I felt.
Immediately after the fledgling took off, I searched for it looking at potential perches I could see along the river. But it wasn’t found. Hopefully it knows its way around so it can come back to the nest when it gets hungry so as to be fed by the parents.
There were a couple of take-away insights upon seeing a kingfisher fledge for the first time in the wild. The timing of fledging can be staggered. Having seen a brood of kestrels fledge, I automatically assumed that the chicks would fledge all at the same time more or less. But judging by the fact that the male, with fish in its beak, came out without it, suggests that there are still chicks inside the nest hole yet to fledge.
Another thing is I possibly underestimated the flight capability of the young. I expected the newly fledged to hang around, hop about a bit before taking its first flight. Not at all. After a bit of wobbliness it flew off never to be seen again on the same day.
This is all uncharted territory for me, so honestly I don’t know what to expect from now on. The chicks inside will fledge one by one over the course of next couple of days. The textbook says the parents will continue to feed the young for up to four to five days thereafter. I will do my best to monitor how they grow and develop into young adults. Stay tuned!