Today at Jerra Wetlands i observed a New Holland appear to feed a White-cheeked Honeyeater. The White-cheeked is a rare bird for Canberra and i am wondering if it is a young bird being cared for by the New Hollands?
honeyeater-0658 by shorty, on Flickr">[/url]honeyeater-0658 by shorty, on Flickr
Perhaps they adopted it because something bad happened to it's parents, or the White cheeked Honeyeater adult female (the mother) laid an egg in the New Holland Honeyeater's nest, kicking out their own egg/s. Like what Koels do. Who knows really!
I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)
Are you sure one was being fed by the other? Any chance they were being competitive?
I watched them for 15 minutes and at this point the WC was just roosting on the branch while the NH collected food then the NH came to the WC and as the pic shows appeared to have fed it.
A little background........when the WC first arrive ( first sighted ) the NH's were aggressive towards it but after a while 2 of the NH seemed to take it under their wing, so to speak. For 3 weeks i observed 2 of the NH looking after it and were aggressive to other NH that hassled the WC.
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Very interesting sighting indeed. I saw a silvereye getting fed by a white naped honeyeater once. Birds are really strange sometimes haha