Day 208 - WARNING - Cuteness Overload in York Part 2

Moor Hen chick - is that a Moor Hen-ling?

Hi all today's Day 208 and I thought that I would carry on with the series that I started yesterday. If you didn't see it just click here and you'll be taken there. I think that people really enjoyed that post because of the reaction to it on Twitter.

I found all the material such as photos at York University and I really enjoyed it there and I had no idea how many goslings and ducklings there were.

I'll start off again with a little video of the various chicks I took around the lakes on the campus.

So, using the same set-up as yesterday, here are the facts:

Moorhen Chicks

Are you sure these are my feet Mum?

• The egg weight is a relatively large one compared to their 320g adult mass. It's about 7% of the adult weight at 22.3g.

• It usually has 4-6 siblings in its brood but across the parents' two broods it will have 9-13 brothers and sisters.

• They start to breed after one year which is 1/3 of their life as they usually live for 3 years. I don't know how many get to this stage in life because I can't find the juvenile survival rate.

Mallard Chicks

• Mallard eggs only weigh 5% of the average 1.1kg adult weight. The mathematicians that read my blog will already know that their eggs weigh around 54g.

Ducking

• They usually live with 10-13 siblings which normally fledge after 50-60 days in their nest.

• Their first breeding age is, just like moorhens, one year old. Also like the above, this is 1/3 of their life as they live for 3 years.

• Sadly and scarily, only about half of all mallards make it to this age. This is probably because of poisonings, diseases and people hunting them.

Great-Crested Greeb Chicks

A Greebe-ling

• About 4% of the average adult Mallard's weight is an egg's average mass. All you quick thinkers out their will have figured out that the egg's weight is 39.5g.

• The Great-Crested Grebe has around 2-3 eggs per brood and they can have between one and two broods.

• The age that they first start breeding in is 2 years but I can't find their average lifespan anywhere.

Coot Chicks

• The eggs weight is quite similar to the Greeb's at 36.5g. Also quite similarly to the Greeb the egg is about 4.5% of the adults 800g mass.

A Coot-ling

• Coots have between 5 and 7 eggs per brood and they usually have between 1 and 2 brood every year.

• Another thing they have in common with the Greeb is the age of first breeding, 2 years. This is about 40% or 4/10 of its 5 year life.

• Sadly, only 70% of all Coots make it to this age as they have a survival rating of 0.701 unlike their parents who only have a 0.380 survival rating.

So, I hope you've enjoyed all the cuteness,

Z.