Fledgling Tuis, feeding time
The past few months have seen our garden Tuis engaging in mating rituals, nest building and successful rearing of Tui chicks with the sounds of Cicadas and the cheeping of baby Tuis having been a constant in the background for some time now. And for the first time, we have multiple birds simultaneously using our nectar feeder.
It's fascinating to watch the young birds begging to any adult bird that happens by, only to be ignored by random male Tuis using the feeder. Eventually they score a feed from the mother bird who injects nectar down their throats with almost surgical precision, given the speed at which it all takes place - the fledglings madly flapping their wings as they receive it.
The juveniles in this video are still to grow their poi feathers, which happens at about 3 months of age. Since this footage was taken, they have grown in confidence and have become expert at not only diving and swooping, but avoiding (though sometimes challenging) the bigger males who will attempt to chase them off the feeder. We even have a pair of little Tui friends, probably siblings, who seem to hang out together, with a third one sometimes joining in...
