| Back | Gallery | Next |
| Day 12B: No Squabbling Here Some
baby birds squabble and bicker. Baby hawks and herons sometimes
even hurt each other. But not hummingbirds! A. Bickering takes energy, and makes it easier for predators to notice a nest. Nestlings that fight usually belong to species that hunt for limited food. When a mother hawk catches a mouse, she might not catch another for several hours, or even a whole day. So if the most aggressive baby gets the food, it is more likely to survive than the meeker babies. But hummingbird mothers are sure to find enough food for both their babies, so there's no need for the babies to waste energy arguing. |
