A new way to eat
I've got a pair of resident starlings which nest in the eaves above my garden area, and after much watching of the tits using the peanut feeders they started to try it for themselves a couple of years ago.
Now a pair which nest in the eaves at the rear of the building have got interested and are learning the technique. Here, one of them is watching the expert at work, head first tilted to left, then to right, as it studies how it's done. Since this shot was taken the newbies are trying it out regularly for themselves, but their leg muscles are still too weak to maintain the stance for long so there's much furious wing flapping in order to maintain position. Perching like this for long periods is very difficult for a ground feeding bird, especially a bird which walks, using a very different muscle set.
Such advanced skills are a long way off for this starling chick, offspring of the skilled pair this year. Here it's seen pestering one of the adults for food, the adult searching for leatherjackets to satisfy the chick's need for live food.
They've become fully skilled and their leg muscles have strengthened, enabling them to maintain a sideways perch for long periods, that's one of this pair on the feeder in the photograph. They use the feeders every day year round and always visit them at the end of the day to top up.
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