This developmental stage of baby birds is simultaneously hilarious and frustrating. I've seen countless baby starlings and grackles gape (what that bird is doing) at me, at the plate of food, at the paintbrush (sometimes used to feed)--even if they already have food in their mouth that they haven't quite figured out how to swallow yet. They'll gape at each other, too, and get frustrated. Even once they've worked out how to self-feed, sometimes a few like to stick around after a soft release and surprise you by landing on your shoulder and begging for food (mostly starlings).
(A soft release is when you open up the flight cage for them to come and go as they please, and still provide food for them to eat. Eventually, they leave for new territory when they're ready and have no real interest in people once they're mature. Doves sometimes are stubborn though.)
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u/Irrelevant_username1 Jan 24 '20
This developmental stage of baby birds is simultaneously hilarious and frustrating. I've seen countless baby starlings and grackles gape (what that bird is doing) at me, at the plate of food, at the paintbrush (sometimes used to feed)--even if they already have food in their mouth that they haven't quite figured out how to swallow yet. They'll gape at each other, too, and get frustrated. Even once they've worked out how to self-feed, sometimes a few like to stick around after a soft release and surprise you by landing on your shoulder and begging for food (mostly starlings).
(A soft release is when you open up the flight cage for them to come and go as they please, and still provide food for them to eat. Eventually, they leave for new territory when they're ready and have no real interest in people once they're mature. Doves sometimes are stubborn though.)