On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 12:52:53 -0700, Paddy's Pig wrote:

"Travis" wrote in message
news
Great H bird pix.

Thanks Travis.

So I guess the mother picks it out of the nest and throws it up and it
stcks on the leaves?

No. They're born with an instinct to poke their little butts up above
the rim of the nest and do their business with surprising force. In the
first day or two when they're little and weak a fair percentage of the
"duties" don't make in far --- some ending up on the rim of the nest. I
had read that the mothers try to clean it up but frankly saw no evidence
of that although she may have gotten rid of a few of them. Nonetheless
there were some on the nest even when the chicks were a week old. But
by then the leaves around them were turning black. Obviously she fed
them pretty well because they sure made a lot of waste.

Ain't Mother Nature amazing?

--

Travis in Shoreline Washington