Pīpīwharauroa being fed by riroriro foster parents - a long visit

This feeding visit of a pīpīwharauroa (shining cuckoo) by its riroriro (grey warbler) parent (no idea if this one is Mum or Dad) in the Brook Waimārama Sanctuary on Saturday (see previous posts for more information) took several visits by the riroriro before the butterfly was successfully deposited into the hungry fledgling's mouth. Or perhaps it wasn't so hungry? The parents seemed to be doing a pretty good job of finding food, every few minutes they'd come by with another bug, and some were decent-sized.

First attempt to offload this butterfly failed. The bug was offered, but was met with apparent disinterest, so the riroriro departed within a second. Was the fledgling not hungry? Does it not like food with wings? Was it confused as it's not used to being king of the castle and being fed from below? Keep in mind this fledgling had likely only been out of the nest for 45 minutes (see earlier post for more information), so it is also adjusting to a very different world.

The riroriro turned around and offered the bug again, this time from a lower branch. Note how it leaped up from the branch while offering the butterfly. This attempt also failed, although the fledgling seemed interested this time.

Feeding attempt No. 3. The fledgling seemed to lose interest for some reason.

So the riroriro departed briefly, leaving baby to reconsider its life options.

Back again.

Success! Butterfly successfully passed from parent to baby.

Parent seems a little watchful here, perhaps ensuring the bug isn't rejected or dropped.

Then off to find another bug.

This last feeding visit (the fourth attempt to deliver the butterfly, i.e., the last 14 photos) took 1.7 seconds.

I saw a few more feeding visits but the fledgling had moved to a safe perch enclosed in foliage so photography was not realistic. I departed down Kākāriki Spur after a most enjoyable 45 minute distraction. Unbeknownst to me I'd taken over 2000 photos (on burst mode) in that time, and by the end of the day had taken 6300. It took some time to sort and process....