Mating-Season in Australia

[Farmerboy16]

Wow, thank you for taking the time to write down every thing that you see and do in the emu world!

Its sure is interesting!

If the chicks are not B.E's, then I am confused too.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

CHICK UNDER WING

‘Kay . . . deep breath (and coffee):

I’ve staggered about the gums in the vicinity of where I found the chick. No more thus far.

Is there such a mental illness as ‘False Peep Syndrome’? ‘Oh!! Over there! A peep! No. Not. Wait! Over there now!’

There is rain coming: the wind is rising, which makes it very hard to audit. While I was on the ‘scrub side’ of the fence – off my place – I did hear a crash in the scrub that didn’t sound like a big roo. The sounds of roos and emus in the bush are sometimes and sometimes not distinguishable. I heard a similar sound close by when I had the chick in my hands in the first place. It would make sense, readers: a wild male with chicks could have passed along the fence-line, and a chick has darted through the fence, and the male couldn’t follow it. I don’t know. I am clutching at straws.

Meanwhile, though, I’ve checked on B.E. and (quick: name the chick, S.E.) Ring-In:

Walt-Disney cute!! The first time I checked, I approached in trepidation, wondering if in fact the chick had been rejected, and left. It is a fine thing that four years of patience means I can approach B.E. to about twenty feet, far far closer than on any previous occasion.

He ignored me. I could hear incessant cheeping. (Notably, the chick made no sound when I first sighted it, and little later; but it was its cheeping a little later that allowed me to track it.) So, kneeling and focussing the binos – bless Mrs Binoculars Manufacturer – I watched. It took me several minutes to figure it out. It looked as though B.E. has sprouted an annexe of feathers. Each cheep produced a tiny movement of the annexe. I couldn’t actually identify any part of the chick, but it was clearly there.

The second time, I approached close again. The annexe (D’uh, Supreme Emu – no, at first it seemed to be in the wrong place) transpired to be B.E.’s wing. B.E. literally had Ring-In under his wing, all snuggled in except for his little speckled head (female, I think), which was poking out.

‘Kay, S.E. has a bunch of stuff to patiently achieve today. Where Ring-In came from must remain a mystery for the moment. In the first moments of the drama, I had to bring Ring-In back to B.E., and was astounded to realise that I couldn’t find B.E. even though I knew he must be within eighty or a hundred feet of where I was standing. I had to go to the end of the aisle, find the landmark, and locate him from it – that is, a nesting emu snuggled down (exhausted) in the leaf litter of a gum aisle is a very very hard thing to find. The area that I’d quarter to find the Unknown Male is several hundred yards square. Gotta leave that project at this second.

Supreme Emu

 

[mbmess2003]

That is awesome! You were just saying about how males would adopt orphan chicks a couple posts ago too...

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Hey, Mbrness 2003 and Farmer Boy!!

You would have laughed out loud if you could have heard my thoughts this morning when I spotted the chick:

‘Oh no!! Catch it? Wildlife refuge? Leave it to the foxes and say nothing on BYC? Touch it equals adopt it!!: six weeks in the chicken pen and let it go? Whose could it be? Gee, it’s fast and quiet!! What if I go back to B.E.’s aisle and meet him, with a clutch, furious? How could it have hatched so fast?’

Yup, it’s a mystery. Yup yup yup!!

It would be an easier mystery to solve, guys, if I had some experience of chicks. I’ve seen photos of truly-newly-hatched chicks, all wet, with their feathers stuck together. Well, this chick was well past this stage – that was one of my first thoughts: ‘Nah . . . it can’t be B.E.’s!!’

Knowledge comes from attention to detail. I note that the third time I went up ‘quartering’ the area, I got just a whiff – tiny but clear – of wild emu. Six weeks ago – I have learned so very very much of late – that detail would have gone right over my head. The details, the details – for instance, the other morning, walking over to audit South West Female, I was amazed at how strong the smell of B.E. was: at forty yards, pungent and unmistakable in the still still pre-dawn air.

So, our ‘smell score’ is:
the first time I ever really noted wild emu smell in the bush, I fell over Peter Parent ten seconds later.

Second time, passing B.E.’s aisle at 4:45 in the morning – positive indication of nesting male/male with chicks.

Third time? This morning? Just found a newly-hatched chick.

So, unless we find a male nesting right under our noses, we’ll go with the theory that a male with clutch was passing along the fence-line, and the chick darted through the fence. The Council grades the road twice a year, and, fantastic to relate, it was happening this morning while I was chasing the chick. My point? That noise was just on ‘the other side’ of where the male would have been walking the fence, and might well have 'driven' them toward the fence.

Now, before we move on to Ordinary Things, I express my concern that by introducing an older chick, I will negatively affect the hatching of B.E.’s eggs – will the chick move away independently to eat? Would B.E. move away with it? What if the eggs don’t hatch for six or seven days? Should I provide feed?

Meanwhile, normal Morning Notes:

Greedy and Felicity are here.

Firstly, I observed Felicity's morning calls, and heard the North West Female!! This is exciting to me because each auditing of these morning calls strengthens my notion of adjacent territories.

Then, I followed Felicity on her morning walk down the back, and watched her graze. I thought it was Other Stuff that she pecks up down there, things like seeds and seed pods; but it still seemed to be grass, though one stalk at a time. Go figure!

Let’s make fun of her:



Don't you think she's an undignified Queen? Can't you just hear her saying to herself,'It's mine!! All mine!! Moo ha ha ha ha' [Note that Greedy is at The Distance.]

Supreme Emu

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

I couldn’t get out to check on B.E. until dusk, and I have a bad feeling about the chick. I didn’t see or hear it, though it was dusk. I thought I heard a chick peeping, and spent a half an hour ‘quartering’ the adjacent gums. The problem is wind. If it’s still, you can track and catch a chick within literally a couple of minutes; but gusts of wind make the task almost impossible.

We musn’t expect an All-Walt-Disney ending, readers. Frankly, it was a miracle that Aisle Five and Aisle Seven survived eighteen hours on their own. In fact, I was observing yesterday afternoon when a fox crossed leisurely the very spot at which I caught the two chicks.

So, B.E. is 'H-Day' today -- Hatch Day. Tomorrow will be 'H. D. plus One.'

The secondary benefit of today's drama is that I've found out that B.E. will allow me to approach to about thirty feet, which, through the binos, makes for very good observation. I undertake to observe him for longer periods, to see if he stands to turn the eggs. This might give us data on whether eggs are cracked, etc.


Meanwhile, Greedy has whittled Felicity's Queenship down to almost nothing. Felicity will still, under gross provocation, chase Greedy -- and Greedy flees. But Greedy is, as we Australians say, 'trying it on': she dashes in and starts gobbling up Felicity's wheat, and almost stands her ground when challenged.

I ask again for ideas abouit 'weaning' B.E. and the chiicks off the house-clearing.

Supreme Emu

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

Your intention to feed BE and the chicks away from the house is to discourage them from "hanging out" at the house? I know nothing about emus, only chickens. Broody hens will walk with the chicks to where she knows food and water to be.

Sorry if I'm not totally clear. Hubby gave me his germs, my head is "stuffed", and it's hard to think and type.

Your pictures look similar to the rolling hills (versus REALLY flat land) of the Southern East Coast. When I see the red soil peeking out the greenery I think of Georgia. That tree stump ater the fence post was very interesting.

I hope your surgery goes well and you feel better.

 

[chickenzoo]

In my experience with emu..... They will always do what you don't want them to do..... If you put wheat someplace else, more than likely you will have all the emu go there and then back to the house clearing..... At least that's what mine would do. It seems like emu just know where a safe zone is, don't know if other emu tell each other.... But they seem to know. ..

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Hi, G.G.C. Mom. Yes, I want to reduce the ‘pressure’ here in the house-clearing, and an explanation of why is important to our learning:


there’s a lot of ‘extra’ food here, and that greatly distorts the ‘dynamic’ of emu life. My two tame birds, which are as precious to me as your pets, except their not captive, are The Main Thing. All the other emu activity is just great, but if all seven chicks lived to be adults, the result would be

(a) my birds will be living a maelstrom of violently-competing emus, and

(b) our opportunities to learn from observation will deteriorate because, as long-term readers already know, the extra food has a de-stabilising impact on emu life.

So, enough already. Gotta ‘wean’ these new birds off.

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Ah!! Emu Hugger! Spot on, as usual. You have put your finger on exactly what I was thinking: my two greedy greedy lazy lazy birds will avail themselves of their wheat and then the wheat of B.E. and the chicks. Still, if I throw money at the project – wa ha ha: my yearly feed cost is about two hundred bucks – I think I can at least establish the meadow as a sort of ‘secondary’ environment.

S.E.

 

[Tame Emu Guy]

Ring In is Okay

Good morning, Faithful Readers. Lots to report. We’ll start at dawn – but Ring In the Chick is okay!

Supreme Emu was auditing in the house-clearing before dawn. Magnificent, guys! Still, and therefore quiet. Greedy and Felicity both booming quietly – on exactly opposite sides of the clearing. Never miss a chance to squabble, girls . . .

First light silhouettes the grand gum by the house. Currawongs call, then kookaburras, then lots of birds I don’t know the names of.

Felicity and Greedy both appeared. I didn’t feed them immediately. Felicity had some good booms; but I didn’t stay to observe. (Both birds boom when they’re still ‘in bed,' but only the alpha bird undertakes the morning ‘territory-marking booms.’ That’s Felicity if both birds are here, or Greedy if she’s here alone. It’s intriguing to watch Greedy sit quietly while Felicity the New Queen undertakes the exchange of calls. How are the mighty fallen!)

I wanted to check on Ring In the Chick, so I quickly fed the females, and headed up to the top of the block that Boy Emu is in, and spent a half an hour – it was still too dark to really observe B.E. – observing there, just in case: would I hear a lost chick cheeping? Is it possible that I would actually sight the clutch from which Ring In got separated?

Then I moved down to observe B.E. This was the best – longest and closest – observation thus far. It has been my policy to stay well away from B.E. However, yesterday’s drama required that I approach him to within about twenty feet, and he was unperturbed – indeed, he ignored me, but he looked for a second as though he was going to stomp on Ring In, who represents a Clear and Present Danger to B.E., being, as he is, seven inches high and weighing about as much as a banana.

Anyone know what ‘narcolepsy’ is? About once every ten minutes, B.E. collapses on to the couch for a fifteen second micro-snooze . . . except the couch is his own body. It’s hilarious:

“Yep. I’m awake. I’m guarding the

zzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzz

huh – what!! Me? Asleep? No, no. Just resting my eyes!!’

The binos allow you to see that his eyelids are closed. After about an hour, he finally stood up, and there was Ring In the Chick, alive and well. Ring In moved off to graze, and I spent some time watching, worried about whether he would drift off. He is enthusiastically eating blades of grass, really get some early-life practice in that U-bend-neck-tossing-food-back thing.

I must take him some water later – gotta figure out how to get the container close without disturbing B.E.

Remember I posted the photo of the Perfect Wheat Patch? Growing from the emu blessing? Well, Ring In tucked into just such a miniature wheat patch, growing about five feet from B.E. He found his way back to New Dad about ten minutes later. The litter is a real obstacle – and the reason that Ring In perhaps just cruised by B.E. the first time that I released him yesterday is that (I figured out this morning, watching from another angle) was that they couldn’t see each other because of the litter.

There are seven eggs, guys – seven!! Wow, that Supreme Emu is gonna need to get wetter and colder next Winter if he wants to witness more egg-layings. I only saw one this year. There is no visible egg-tivity, no cracks or suchlike.

Can anyone tell me how close you need to be to hear the peeps?

Then, both Felicity and Greedy turned up near B.E. and S.E. This could just be ‘Observer Affect’ – that is, they came looking to see if I had any sultanas for them. I have seen Greedy near-ish to B.E. a couple of times in recent days. Is this a love of her offspring? Or did she just happen to be passing through?

This time – it’s so hard to tell what behaviour happens for what reason -- noisy data, noisy data!! – Greedy came quite close. Then Felicity, with ruff fully raised, and booming hard, and walking sideways, stuck her beak in. Gotta see if we can get more observations of this phenomenon – is it maternal love (G.) and jealousy (F.)? Sisterly squabbles? Lust for sultanas? Mere co-incidence?

Finally this morning, two wild males came through just a minute ago. They were here a couple of days ago. Both skinny – but one had truly striking markings, unique and beautiful.

(Living a simple simple life is a political choice I’ve made. I have no t.v. here, no washing machine, no dishwasher, no microwave – but I sure would like a decent camera!!)

The male in question had symmetrical bands of almost-cream feathers, one across its toosh, one across its wings, one across its chest.

I have seen this skinny pair twice, but each time I was typing a report, and I didn’t get to observe them. Moreover, they belong to the ‘mosey on’ category of wild birds – have I explained this? Some wild birds, when they spot you, neither ignore you nor bolt. What they do is mosey off behind something, like a shed or a tree. You move, quietly and slowly, and they . . . mosey off again. Mohawk did this for days. They probably aren’t far away.

Here are some photos:


The tiny black spot 'on' B.E.'s neck is . . . Ring In! And check out the toosh, laid out neatly on the ground.

This photo is of B.E. kneeling while he turns the eggs.





Supreme Emu