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| Fledgling, or juvenile Willie Wagtails Rhipidura leucophrys are readily identified as youngsters by the cream-not-white-like-the-adults stripe above the eyes and the buff tips to the wing coverts |
The summer is now warm, the grass is high and dried out, the cicadas are singing, and the late passerine fledglings are leaving their nests. Like these two Willie Wagtails I saw perched on a log the other day while out for a walk in the local bushland.
I heard and saw the adults first, attracted by their steady chirps and flitting tails. Then I saw the youngsters sitting quietly, low amongst a pile of dead branches.
The chicks kept still until their parents arrived with food for them. Then they sat up and began to call to be fed.
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This pair of wagtails lost their first clutch of eggs to a predator away back in Spring. Then they failed at a second breeding attempt, I don't know why, but now they have successfully reared a brood of chicks - two is a typical brood size. That will likely be their last attempt for this year.
