Interesting Occurance

[Craig52]

Over the last few weeks,after feeding my crimsons and taking sometime to sit and watch them afterwards i have noticed the prs with newly hatched young taking a white feather which they have just dipped in water back to the nest at change over time.All nests are built in gouldian nest boxes and they stuff them full of emu feathers and line them with white chook feathers.With an average of 4-5 per nest and a WELL insulated nest,why would they be trying to increase the humidity if thats what their doing and i wonder if they do this in the wild as they breed in pandana's along river and creek banks where there is a constant supply of water. Craig

[mattymeischke]

It seems unlikely to be for humidity. If feathers only go in to the already packed nest, and no feathers come out, perhaps they wet them to make them occupy less space, or be easier to work into the nest.

Interesting, indeed.

[Tiaris]

Why does it seem unlikely to be for humidity?

[Craig52]

Why does it seem unlikely to be for humidity?

Tiaris,when the young leave the nest,they don't go back to it at anytime so after a few days when the young have settled down i remove it.In the last nest there was 5 young and the material i removed from it was very damp,the sides and top of the box was beginning to go mouldy(black) even though i have drilled 4mm holes in the top and bottom of the nest for ventilation.The nest chamber is about the size of a tennis ball,quite small for 5 ready to fledge young and the rest of the box is jammed packed with emu feathers.There is to many emu feathers to waste so they are recycled after 10 minutes in the dryer or left in the sun to dry.
So with all this insulation in the nest and the humidity produced from the parent birds,why are they doing this at the hatching stage. Cheers Craig

[desertbirds]

I would assume the humidity in your location is nothing like where the birds originate from and perhaps they are trying to compensate. Some species apparently take a feather at change over time to block the view of whats inside, that is, they stick it in the entrance on the way in.
People that visit Alice Springs from Darwin often comment that they feel like their skin is going to crack, Alice people going to Darwin really struggle in the humidity. Ive read that wild Crimsons nest in Pandanas, no doubt even in the dry season the nest would still be relatively humid compared to nesting in dry brush.

[Tiaris]

I guess also the natural nest sites are not often enclosed like in a nest box so the wild nests are likely to naturally breathe through the walls & this would allow moisture to be lost.

[Craig52]

All the nests i have seen in the wild have been jammed between the trunk and the spiky branch of the pandanas palm, and are very hard to spot except for maybe a few grass strands which i think are there for a landing platform,so the only ventilation would be at the top. Craig

[murf]

Is it a possible way of transfering water to thirsty chicks? A bit like dampened cottonwool in a transport box.

[Tiaris]

I also thought that. I vaguely recall seeing a doco where Plovers & Jacanas wet their belly feathers & the young drink from them. Maybe Crimsons do too.

[murf]

Had seen something similar on TV also, but can't remember what bird it was.