What do you think after a baby bird is born? How does their mother take care of them? It is very interesting. Mother birds always love their babies, and they are so caring to them. They spend a lot of time o take care of their babies. They also keep their babies safe as much as possible. In this blog post, we are going to discuss how do mother birds take care of their babies.
How do mother birds take care of their babies
1. Feeding
When a baby bird is born, mother birds feed their babies with food that they have prepared. The food that the mother birds prepare for their babies is called regurgitated food or regurgitated. This food contains all the nutrients that the babies need. When the babies eat the regurgitated food, it helps in building up their immune system. For preparing their baby’s food, mother birds go outside from the nest. When one bird is left from the nest, another stays in the nest to guard their chick. After a while, the mother bird brings food back to her nest. If the food size is big, mother birds break the food by their beak and make it small pieces and feed their babies.
2. Cleaning
After feeding the babies, mother birds clean their nests. They use their feathers to clean the nest. They also remove any dirt or debris and dead feathers from the nest. By removing dirt and debris, baby birds do not affect by disease. When the chicks grow bigger than the nest, mother birds move the nest to a new place. They also change the location of the nest every day.
3. Protection
When the babies are born, sometimes predators attack the nest and hurt their babies. This time is very crucial because predators may often attack at any time. To protect their babies, mother birds build a strong nest. They cover the nest with grasses, twigs, leaves, sticks etc. Sometimes the predator attacks the nest, but mother birds chase away the predator.
4. Provide warmth
When the babies are still young, mother birds provide warmth to their babies. They heat up the nest using their own body heat. They keep their babies at their wings. Sometimes when there is no sunlight, mother birds warm up the nest by heating up some dry wood.
5. Provide water
Mother birds give water to their babies. They carry water in their mouth and drop it on the ground near the nest. At times when there is no rain, mother birds collect dew drops from the plants and put them in a container. Then they pour it over the nest.
6. Nourishing
As the babies get older, mother birds nourish them more with nutritious food. They feed them with worms, insects, grubs, seeds, fruits, berries, and other things. This food helped baby birds to develop their immune system.
7. Play
Mother birds play with their babies. They teach them different games like pecking, flying, hopping, walking, running, jumping, climbing, and many others. These activities help the babies to learn skills that will help them to survive in nature.
8. Flying
When the babies are old enough, mother birds let them fly around inside the nest. They teach them how to fly by showing them how to flap their wings. When the babies start flapping their wings, mother birds encourage them to fly further.
9. Chasing
Once the babies become adults, mother birds chase them to see if they can catch them. This activity helps them to know whether the babies are ready to leave the nest.
10. Leaving
Once the babies are grown-up, mother birds allow them to leave the nest. They show them how to find food and water. They also tell them about dangers such as fire, floods, storms, wild animals, snakes, poisonous spiders, etc.
What does a mother bird do if a predator attacks its nest?
Mother birds try to save their babies from danger. If a predator attacks the nest, mother birds fight back against the predator. They throw stones, pebbles, branches, sticks, grasses, leaves, twigs, etc., to scare off the predator.
How do mother birds protect their babies from diseases?
Mother birds protect their babies from disease by cleaning the nest daily. They remove any dirt or debris from the nest. In addition, they also remove dead feathers from the nest so that bacteria cannot grow in the nest.
Why don’t mother birds feed their babies every day?
Mother birds usually feed their babies once a day. But sometimes, they need to feed their babies twice a day. For example, if there is no sunlight for a long period of time, mother birds have to feed their babies twice per day.
How does mother bird teach their babies to walk?
When the babies are very small, mother birds hold them under their wings. They move their legs slowly until they learn how to stand on their feet. After this, mother birds let them practice standing on their own. When the babies are big enough, mother birds sit on the eggs and push them out of the nest. The babies fall down and land safely on the ground.
Final thoughts:
After being born to grow up, a mother bird can do everything for its babies. It teaches them how to eat, drink, sleep, play, fly, run, jump, climb, etc. Mother birds take care of their babies until they are able to live independently. In this blog post, we shared how to take care of baby birds. We hope you enjoyed it!
