Martin Mere, Southport, Lancashire, Primavera al Centro delle paludi in Burscough vicino a Rufford con appena schiuse così brutto-sono-carino pulcini gallinelle d'acqua. Martin semplice è vicino a Wigan Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Inghilterra, sulla West Lancashire pianura costiera. Si tratta di una vasta palude e è stato fino a quando non è stato scaricato, il più grande corpo di acqua dolce in Inghilterra. Per un giorno o così i Polli appena schiusi sono alimentati con il nido con un genitore meditabondo loro (mantenendoli caldi) la maggior parte del tempo. I pulcini sono precocial e lasciano il nido e si alimentano entro pochi giorni dalla nascita.
3600 x 2400 px | 30,5 x 20,3 cm | 12 x 8 inches | 300dpi
Data acquisizione:
19 maggio 2015
Ubicazione:
Southport, West Lancashire, UK
Altre informazioni:
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The Moorhen appears mostly black, but a closer look reveals blackish-brown upperparts and grey-black below. Underneath the tail (undertail coverts) are white and there is a white line along the flank. The bill and frontal shield (forehead) is red, the bill having a yellow tip. The legs and feet are a striking yellow-green, and if you are lucky you may catch a glimpse of the red "garter" at the top of the legs. The toes are lobed, not webbed. The eye is red. Moorhen chicks have black, downy feathers except round the eye and bill. Juveniles have browner underparts and lack the red frontal shield. Moorhens. For a day or so the newly hatched chicks are fed on the nest with a parent brooding them (keeping them warm) most of the time. But they soon venture out onto the water. The rail family (moorhens, Coots etc.) feed their young rather than just leading them to where food is in the manner of ducks. From now on there is an endless procession of the 'minor' inhabitants of the pond and it surroundings brought to fill the ever demanding beaks. Moorhens are about 13 inches (33 cm) long with the sexes just about indistinguishable. They are in the same family as coots, and their nervous behaviour has led them to being called 'Skitty Coots' in some areas. The are not 'moor' birds, the name being a corruption of 'merehen'. Unlike ducks, both parents incubate typically 8 eggs and feed the young on insects etc. which they mostly find by picking through water weeds. Incubation may start with the first egg, with the young hatching over a period of 2 or 3 days. Usually 2 or 3 hatch first, and go off with one adult, and the rest follow and stick with the other. As the young mature their diet expands to include vegetation, insects, worms and the waste vegetables we put out for them. They have multiple broods each year, managing as many as three on a good year. They are not very good at picking fox-proof nest sites (like our islands) and make endless attempts to raise a brood.
