White Tern Feeding

2/6/2017

For the first several days tending a newly hatched chick is a full-time family effort. At this early age, one adult remains with the chick, brooding it to help it thermal regulate, while the other adult forages offshore. After catching fish of appropriately small size, the adult returns to the nest site and offers them to the chick, doing its best to help the chick take the fish head first. The young hatchling's inexperience and the difference in bill lengths makes grasping the last fish from the adult particularly challenging. It's therefore not unusual for the other adult to take that last fish with the tip of its bill and offer it to the chick. After temporarily satisfying its hunger one of the adults often then preens the chick a bit before it resumes brooding it. The second adult heads back out to sea and the cycle begins again.

2 Comments

Mii link

3/8/2020 01:15:23 pm

Hi! I have a question.
How do I care for a white teen chick? Specifically:
- how often do I feed it?
- how much do I feed it?
- how does it stay hydrated? Am I supposed to teach it to drink water?
- how long until the chick is mature enough to fly and fend for itself?

We found one that had fallen from its tree and so far I've been feeding it raw fish (marlin or tuna) 2-3 times a day. I hope I'm not over feeding it.

I've had it for a week and it seems fine. But I'd like to try to return it to it's best when it's mature enough... And when I figure out how to get it back into the tree I found it (it's a massive iron wood tree in town)

Any help or information resources would be greatly appreciated.

Meitaki Maata!

Mii

Rich

3/8/2020 02:52:50 pm

Aloha Mii!
Quick reply to your questions here... You're doing well with feeding the chick 3 or 4 times a day. They will let you know when they've had enough to eat by simply refusing any additional fish that you offer. Tern chicks get all the water they need from the fish they eat and forcing the chick to drink water could actually drown it so no need to worry about it getting enough water if you're able to continue feeding it fish. Tern chicks on Oahu begin branching (flying from branch to branch in the tree where they hatched) after 5 or 6 weeks. And they continue to be fed by their parents for as many as two months after they're able to fly, while the parents are teaching the chick to fish. If the parents are no longer in the tree and have given up on the chick then it will have to learn to fish by following other adults out to sea. Our practice here on Oahu is to transfer the chick to a tree where it will be safe from predators well before it's able to fly. The goal is to feed the chick while it's in the tree and unable to fly long enough that it associates being fed with that particular tree. Then when it's able to fly and to follow other wild adult terns out to sea to fish it will know that it can return to this tree and receive whatever addition food it needs until able to fish and live independently. After being placed in the tree we continue to feed the chick by placing small fish in the end of a thin bamboo pole and then offering it to the chick. With time and practice the chicks often learn to snatch the fish from the end of the pole while in flight. I can send you a video of this process if that would help you to see how this is done.
I hope this helps. Feel free to email additional questions to huimanuoku@gmail.com
By the way, where are you located?
Aloha,
Rich

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