Common Loon Chicks Hatching
This Common Loon chick is just a few days old. Upon hatching, most young birds are either altricial (born naked and helpless) or precocial (fully feathered and capable of feeding themselves). Loons fall somewhere in between; the name for this condition is subprecocial.
When loon chicks hatch they are covered with black, downy feathers and are able to swim. However, they are unable to capture food and feed themselves (even at nine weeks of age, their capture success rate is only 51%). They are dependent upon their parents for food as well as for warmth, as the chicks are also incapable of regulating their body heat and are brooded under their parents’ wings much of the time during the first couple of weeks.
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Showy Lady’s Slippers In Bloom
Showy Lady’s Slippers (Cypripedium reginae) are one of the most eye-catching flowering plants in the Northeast. One immediately notices their enlarged pink pouch, or labellum, which serves to attract and act as a landing platform for pollinating insects. Even though pollination of this flower is anything but simple, it is achieved by certain flies, beetles and bees. This can result in a seed pod containing up to 50,000 seeds, but vegetative reproduction reigns due to poor germination rates and the fact that it takes eight years for a seed to grow into a plant that produces flowers. Even if their classification weren’t “imperiled” or “vulnerable” in many eastern states, which it is, these wetland-loving orchids would still be a treasured gift to set eyes upon.
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White-tailed Deer Fawns Soon to Stretch Their Legs
Most White-tailed Deer fawns are now two to three weeks old. They have spent their short life lying in a sheltered spot called a form, often in a field, where their stillness and relative lack of scent makes it more difficult for predators to detect them. Their mother stays away, not wanting to contaminate the form with her scent. She visits them periodically so that they can nurse.
At this point in their lives, fawns can stand and walk, but aren’t quite strong enough to keep up with their mother, or run from predators. Should you come upon one, know that their mother is most likely within 100 yards, and the fawn shouldn’t be disturbed – it hasn’t been abandoned! Fawns continue nursing from their mother for the next three months, but are now beginning to eat vegetation. Very soon they will be accompanying their mother, foraging for food and relying on their dappled coat for camouflage.
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Fecal Sac Removal
Congratulations to Leah Goat, the first of many Naturally Curious readers to correctly identify the puffy, white matter in the Mystery Photo as a bird’s butt. Avian parents have solved the diaper dilemma – they just do without. However, a nest filled with fecal matter is a health threat to nestlings as well as a magnet for predators and parasites. Many songbirds have evolved an efficient strategy to discourage this situation, one of which includes the cooperation of their young.
Some nestlings do everything in their power to enable their parents in their endeavor to maintain a feces-free nest. Within seconds of being fed they assume a position with their butts front and center at the opening of their nest cavity. Once in position, the chicks produce fecal matter from their cloaca that is enclosed in a clear or white membrane called a fecal sac. The parent immediately clasps the emerging sac in its beak and either eats it or flies off and drops it far enough away so as not to attract predators. Nestlings stop producing fecal sacs shortly before fledging. (Photos: Tree Swallow removing fecal sac of nestling)
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Mystery Photo
With the help of your imagination and sense of humor, can you guess what the white object in this photograph is? Please scroll down to submit your answer under “Comments.” Mystery will be solved on Monday, June 19th.
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How Do Snakes Swallow Prey That Are Larger Than Their Mouths?
Unlike most predators, snakes swallow their prey whole. Often the prey is larger than their mouth; in order to swallow the prey, the snake has unique adaptations that allow it to increase its jaw width and gape.
Contrary to popular myth, snakes do not dislocate their jaws in order to consume large prey. Two mandibles form the lower jaw and are the only moveable bones of the skull. At the front, they are attached to each other with a stretchy ligament. Consequently, the bottom mandibles can spread apart laterally, increasing the width of the mouth. They are also loosely connected at the back to the skull, allowing a snake to also increase the gape of its mouth.
After the prey is captured, the snake’s mandibles move independently of each other, slowly inching the prey into the snake’s throat. Simultaneously, the snake’s head “walks” forward in a side-to-side motion over the prey’s body, so as the prey is levered backward the head moves forward. Backward-pointing teeth help ensure the prey does not escape if it is still alive. (Photo: Common Gartersnake swallowing frog; photo by Kit Emery)
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Bald-faced Hornet Nests Vulnerable
As mentioned in a previous post (https://naturallycuriouswithmaryholland.wordpress.com/2023/04/28/bald-faced-hornet-queens-soon-to-emerge-from-hibernation/ ) young Bald-faced Hornet queens are the only individuals in a nest to overwinter. Once they have emerged from hibernation, queens begin building a new nest. Most of us are familiar with hornets’ large, globular nests that reach a foot or more in length, but it takes many hornets and many weeks for them to attain this size.
Initially the queen constructs three or four paper-mache-like cells that are surrounded by a very thin paper envelope. After she constructs this miniature nest, the queen lays an egg in each of the cells, and continues to enlarge the nest. When the first eggs hatch, the queen feeds the larvae while continuing to construct more cells and lay more eggs. When the larvae pupate and emerge as adult workers, they take over the task of enlarging the nest and rearing the larvae. From this point on, the queen’s sole task is to lay eggs.
The starter nest which the queen constructs is tiny – the outer envelope is a mere inch in diameter. It is extremely delicate and vulnerable at this stage due to its light weight. Strong winds can easily detach the nest from the branch it’s attached to. This is the time of year when it is possible to find miniature hornet nests littering the forest floor.
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Eastern Kingbirds Building Nests
Female Eastern Kingbirds are busy building nests and in about a week they will be laying clutches of three or four eggs. It is unusual for these birds to have a second brood. A small clutch and a single nesting period translate into fairly low productivity for this species.
Ornithologists suggest that the Eastern Kingbird’s low reproductive rate is related to the fact that they rely heavily on flying insects for food, the supply of which can be limited if cool, wet weather occurs. In addition, Eastern Kingbirds care for their young for three to five weeks after the young fledge, longer than many species of birds. This also limits the time available for a second brood.
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Bullfrogs Establishing Territories
The low humming sound of hundreds of male Bullfrogs “jug-o-rumming” on their breeding grounds fills the air this time of year. So energized are these frogs that singing occurs during the day time as well as at night.
While attracting a mate is one reason for this serenade, establishing a territory is the initial objective. According to Tom Tyning (Stokes Guide To Amphibians and Reptiles) a male Bullfrog’s territory is a circular area that may be anywhere from six to twenty feet in diameter. Males who are singing have established territories and tend to be the largest and oldest individuals. Should another male challenge a resident Bullfrog, there can be physical altercations in the form of wrestling matches in which males hold each other and attempt to gouge each other with their thumbs.
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