The parents feed by regurgitating food into the babies mouth. The chick will wiggle, flutter it's wings and vocalize to let the parents know it wants to be fed. The chick does not have a crop like most other species of parrots and birds. The parents will also stimulate the chick to defecate. When young this is done with the tip of the parents bill, and as the chick gets older it will point it’s tail straight up as a signal it needs to be emptied. Most chicks will do this up to about 6 weeks of age. Click on each photo for a larger view.
I have found that the hatch weight is the basis to monitor the growth of a chick. If the chick weighed 3 grams at hatch, each day it should gain this same amount. With nests that have helpers the chick may gain an additional gram a day. From day 11-15 the growth will slow down to a gram weight gain a day. The reason for this is because the chick is feathered and will fledge from the nest for a short time, and return to it. Once fledged it will gain 1-2 grams a day until it is weaned. With blue-naped the average weight at 3-4 weeks old is 45 grams or upwards to 55 grams depending on the size of the parents. Fully weaned the chick will average approx. 60 grams.
The photos below are a good guide to use to visually monitor the daily changes in growth. Click on each photo for a larger view.
The photos below are a good guide to use to visually monitor the daily changes in growth. Click on each photo for a larger view.
Please visit my Visual Difference Between Species page. It shows the difference between Colius (white-backed) and Urocolius (blue-naped) chicks.
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