How Nestlings Leave the Nest

BirdNote^® 
How Nestlings Leave the Nest 
Written by Frances Wood

This is BirdNote.

In June, when birdsong is on the wane, many baby birds leave the nest. Some shuffle tentatively along the nearest branch, while others take the “big leap.” Young Great Horned Owls clamber out of their nest to nearby branches where they perch, flap their wings, and beg to be fed by their parents.

     [Young Great Horned Owl vocalizations; adults in background]

The young owls practice flying by taking short, cautious flights to close-by branches or neighboring trees before they depart the nesting area.

     [Sounds of Glaucous-winged Gulls and a colony of Common Murres]

Young seabirds, in their nests on high rocky cliffs, often can’t fly. To launch themselves, they tumble off the cliff to land on the water below. Built to bounce, the chicks pop up and swim close to their parents who continue to feed them. But oh! What a first step! 

The Marbled Murrelet is a small, endangered seabird that nests in old coastal forests on the West Coast. It has a risky exit strategy! From its nest high in a tree, the chick must make its first solo flight all the way to the sea, often 10 or 20 miles away.

     [Keer calls of the Marbled Murrelet]

For BirdNote, I’m Michael Stein.

Support for BirdNote is provided by Mary Pigott from Seattle, Washington, and generous listeners around the world.

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Senior Producer: Mark Bramhill
Producer: Sam Johnson
Managing Editor: Jazzi Johnson
Managing Producer: Ariana Remmel
Content Director: Jonese Franklin

Calls of the owls, gulls, and murrelets provided by The Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. Young Great Horned Owls recorded by D.T. Spaulding; Adult Great Horned Owls by R.W. Fish; Glaucous-winged Gulls by Grace M. Bell; Marbled Murrelet by K.S. Nelson. The colony of Common Murres was recorded by Gerrit Vyn; chick and parent recorded by T.G. Sander. 
BirdNote’s theme was composed and played by Nancy Rumbel and John Kessler.
© 2013 Tune In to Nature.org   June 2013 / 2021 / 2025   
Narrator: Michael Stein

ID# fledge-01b-2021-6-12         fledge-01b-2009-06-09-MS-