Parental Feeding Behaviour of the Noisy Friarbird Philemon comiculatus

Abstract

A two-day watch was kept on 30 December 1987 and I January 1988 at a nest of the Noisy Friarbird Philemon cornicularus containing four large, well-feathered nestlings at Licola in eastern Victoria. Contrasting weather on the two days enabled comparisons to be made on the frequency of visits to the nest and other behaviour. The nest was left unattended for 739 minutes on the fine day and 632 minutes on the wet day (88% and 75% of observation time respectively, total 14 hours per day). The number of visits to the nest by the two adults ranged from 7 to 23 per 2 hours, average 8 per hour. One. two or three nestlings were fed on the same visit. No evidence was found to indicate that more than two adults attended the nest.