birding

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A community for people who like birds, birdwatching and birding in general!

Feel free to share your photos and other birding-related content here. If a photo you post isn't yours, please credit the original creator! Additionally, it would be appreciated if the location of the sighting and a date were given when a photo or question is posted. You do not have to give the precise location, something like "Northern Idaho, June 2023" or even "North-Western US, June 2023" suffices.

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Ostrich Chick (with its mothers leg in the background for scale) (lemm.ee)

submitted 4 months ago by SillySpy@lemm.ee to c/birding@lemmy.world

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[–] Nougat@fedia.io 11 points 4 months ago

"Adult ostrich leg for scale."

[–] SillySpy@lemm.ee 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Came across a brood of these chicks in a nearby National Park. They stay in parental care for up to 9 months, and only 12% of chicks per nest grow to adult due to their susceptibility to disease and poor weather.

[–] pleasejustdie@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago (1 children)

They have a high mortality rate pre-hatch as well in the wild. A parent accidentally stepping on an egg is very very common and the larger the clutch the more common it happens.

[–] SillySpy@lemm.ee 2 points 4 months ago

Interesting! I wouldn’t have guessed that, but it makes sense. They have huge feet and walk around their eggs often

[–] elliot_crane@lemmy.world 6 points 4 months ago

I know I can’t be the only one that thought “so is the mother behind that tree.. oh.. wait, that’s not a tree”