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Come back to this page each day to read another entry from Frederick R. Gehlbach's almanac of suburban natural and unnatural history, "Messages from the Wild," which chronicles the world of a forested ravine in central Texas.
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Rechecking eastern screech owl nests on the verge of fledging young, I find that the youngest chick in one brood of four has a dislocated leg. Its three siblings have left. It is the original runt, now large enough and sufficiently well-feathered to fledge, but it cannot climb to the hole. Father watches the nest from his customary roost. How long will he attend? Mom stays with the three fledglings, all together about a hundred feet away. It is rare to be debilitated in a manner that prevents leaving -- more common for a runt to starve, suffocate by being sat upon, or be killed and eaten by older siblings if food is scarce. I do not rescue this chick because I try to minimize interference in natural events in order to learn. |
Frederick R. Gehlbach is Professor Emeritus of Biology and Environmental Studies at Baylor University. His ecological studies have taken him from New Zealand to Slovakia and, in the Americas, from Alaska and Newfoundland to Guatemala, Belize and Honduras. His research interests include the life-history strategies of small owls, small burrowing snakes and urban wildlife ecology.
From MESSAGES FROM THE WILD: AN ALMANAC OF SUBURBAN NATURAL AND UNNATURAL HISTORY by Frederick R. Gehlbach, Copyright © 2002. Courtesy of the University of Texas Press.
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