Method of food collection by male Speckled Piculet for its nestlings

[Samrat Sarkar]

In these context we can come to some conclusions from our observations and may be listed as:

1] The male birds play an active role in feeding their chicks.

2] The whole process completes within 3 to 4 minutes.

3] The main, if not the sole, nourishment of the young Piculets just from hatching to the time when pin-feathers start growing on their skin are the eggs and the larvae of the ants. [ Reference: Life history of the Olivaceous Piculet and related forms by Alexander F. Skutch, received on 19 September 1947,(Page 433 to Page 449) IBIS, 90...]. As the feathers start growing they feed on full grown ants along with eggs and larvae. The pictures here show that feathers have grown on the skin of its chick; they have become 10 to 12 days of age.

4] The tongues of all the woodpeckers are quite long and are normally kept in a rolled up condition in a small space inside the head.

5] I have seen the bird disappearing with a mouthful of food in a dry branch of a tree in the downhill. I am sure that its nest was somewhere very close there.

Equipment used - Canon 7D + Canon 500mm f4 + Monopod
Images are edited and cropped
Comments and critiques are welcome..