Downy Egret Chicks—They’re So Cute and Fluffy!

Like dandelions with sharp beaks, these adorable little chicks actually are tough skirmishers. Sibling rivalry can be tough between egret babies. Sadly, this sometimes results in the younger, thus smaller, chick dying. The young birds compete with each other for food by begging and squabbling. Interestingly, one study showed that the mother fed the younger chick more frequently and the father egret fed the older, stronger chick.

However, in areas where breeding conditions unfold correctly, both chicks often survive to adulthood. These two in the video casually divide the food cached for them by a parent. This indicates that plentiful nourishment is available.

Here’s to these two fluff balls growing up to be stately egrets.

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N Judah
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N Judah
8 years ago

” Dandelions with sharp beaks”, I love your description, Kym. As adults, they are elegantly odd. Thanks for this sweet way to greet the day.

nines
Guest
8 years ago

I look just like that after the phone wakes me up….

guest (NOT the other one)
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guest (NOT the other one)
8 years ago
Reply to  nines

BIG grin.

egrets r awesome
Guest
egrets r awesome
8 years ago

Our local egrets are huge consumers of mice, have seen them eating some rather large ones in the median of the safety corridor lately!! In college studying wildlife a professor told us that tourists often ask how we get those white birds to stand so still in the highway median. This was during a lecture on some people’s ignorance of wild places, such as asking when they let the bears out in Yellowstone 🙂

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[…] downy chicks filmed two weeks ago but seen at this link just three days ago are becoming elegant […]

Alan Peterson
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Alan Peterson
8 years ago

Here’s another clip from the same nest, two weeks later. The little ones are growing fast, and are as hungry as ever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtC6_e1c1SI