Moorhen family values

I've back blipped yesterday.
Cuter and fluffier in large.

I went back to Eagle Pond on Clapham Common today to check in with the moorhen family (as described yesterday). Yesterday, I said that I saw 2 parents, with 2 juvenile moorhens, and 4 tiny (v. young) moorhenlings. Their behaviour (described more fully below) is what really drew me back today. When I arrived, I quickly realised that the family actually comprises 2 parents, 3 juveniles (all 3 survived!), and 7 tiny moorhenlings! Cuteness overload... 7!? They are tiny, and days/week old rather than weeks old.

The family behaviour is heart-warming: yesterday, the juvenile ones were trying to interact with the chicks, but when the parents noticed they'd shoo them off. Today, that was not happening; not at all. They are an integrated family: the juveniles help look after the tiny chicks (their younger siblings), and the parents oversee the whole lot. The juveniles would break off looking for food (as would the parents), and the chicks would follow any of the older ones. What tended to happen was that the juveniles would spread out along the edge of the pond, looking for food, with 2 or 3 chicks in tow. The parents were flitting around fetching food and visiting all of them, sometimes with a chick following and so changing juvenile nanny.

It is simply amazing! I don't know an awful lot about bird behaviour (except from this year's somewhat intensive observation); I was so surprised and delighted when I realised that this year's first brood are helping to look after this year's second brood.

I've put a picture of one of the juveniles feeding the chicks on Blipfolio.