Wild Emus at The Lilly Pilly Tree

[briefvisit]

Before the tech goes wonky again:

https://imgur.com/yiuEK3R

Here is your big chance, readers. My eyes are just so bad:

the bird on the right -- do we both see a circle of white feathers on its neck? a 'ruff'?

I think I see one, which means that that bird is an adult -- Dad!

 

[briefvisit]

Meanwhile, Great Farmhouse Mysteries:

https://imgur.com/v4EyDQ8

No water would come out of the spout. So, unscrew and clean the nozzle, and blow down the spout.

Still no water. Repeat process. Still no water.

It took me ten minutes to work it out:

https://imgur.com/FKqbko7

It was hiding in the spout, with just its frog nose poking out.

https://imgur.com/gAEcKNk

It's now safe in the bathroom with the other frogs:

 

[briefvisit]

Finally, Offsider Emu has become really surprisingly tame -- and now drinks at the bird bath:

https://imgur.com/io60n5U

 

[Evadig]

D

Meanwhile, Great Farmhouse Mysteries:

https://imgur.com/v4EyDQ8

No water would come out of the spout. So, unscrew and clean the nozzle, and blow down the spout.

Still no water. Repeat process. Still no water.

It took me ten minutes to work it out:

https://imgur.com/FKqbko7

It was hiding in the spout, with just its frog nose poking out.

https://imgur.com/gAEcKNk

It's now safe in the bathroom with the other frogs:

Do you dedicate a bathroom to the frogs?

Before the tech goes wonky again:

https://imgur.com/yiuEK3R

Here is your big chance, readers. My eyes are just so bad:

the bird on the right -- do we both see a circle of white feathers on its neck? a 'ruff'?

I think I see one, which means that that bird is an adult -- Dad!

I think I see a ring, yes.
Do only Dads have the white ruff?


What do the moms do all this time, while the Dad is raising the clutch?

 

[AntiqueB]

I must have watched that video 20 times. What complicates matters is that there are bare branches right in front of the Dad's head and neck. I think I see a flash of white, but it's hard to tell if it's feather or branch.

 

[briefvisit]

'I must have watched that video 20 times. What complicates matters is that there are bare branches right in front of the Dad's head and neck. I think I see a flash of white, but it's hard to tell if it's feather or branch.'

Well, let's leave the matter as undecided -- though this leaves us with the issue of why LC and Offsider withdrew from conflict with chicks.

And bear in mind, readers, that we've seen these chicks three times already. We may well get a sighting that decides the issue.

 

[briefvisit]

'I think I see a ring, yes.
Do only Dads have the white ruff?'

No, but all adults do; and if there is an adult bird with that clutch, that adult is Dad.

 

[briefvisit]

'What do the moms do all this time, while the Dad is raising the clutch?'

Great question! Nothing.

The related question is: if almost all babies in bird world are raised by their Mums, why are emus different?

My answer is: in the case of small birds, incubation is just a couple of weeks. For an emu, it's seven-and-a-half weeks; and we know from direct observation that it is a mighty task, especially given that the lengthy parenting process begins the very moment that Dad and the clutch leave the nest.

Now go and find a picture of the size of -- I think it's the rhea -- a female rhea next to its egg. The biological investment is huge!

And a female emu may apparently lay a half a wheelbarrow load of eggs -- Toosh Toosh turned up here with ten chicks.

So imagine if the female emu laid the eggs; then incubated them; then proceed immediately with at least eight months of parenting. It's a debilitating 'investment,' and my guess is that somehow evolution split the task: the Mum lays; the Dad incubates and parents.

 

[briefvisit]

'Do you dedicate a bathroom to the frogs?'

The farmhouse is tres simple. The bathroom is cool and moist in summer, at a time when cool and moist are splendid resources. A number of these frogs have been living in my bathroom for over a year now -- 'self-dedicated'!

(This is why the bird bath is so popular for other critters. If it gets to 110 on the old scale, that bit of fresh water is a fine resource for critters.)

 

[AntiqueB]

Have your frogs ever laid eggs in the bathroom?