Not as helpless as a baby

Previously, I wrote about how some birds take care of their young. It turned that I had a big misconception about how birds take care of their young. Firstly, there are birds that lay their egg and then abandon them. OK, these birds are not as callous as one thinks. The eggs are laid in a specially constructed mound that is thermally regulated. There are also birds that are born with their eyes open and with some feathers and are actually mobile. It is true that these baby birds have their parents protection and some training as to how to get food but these type of birds are quite independent. (Chicks and ducklings fall into this "latchkey kids" category).

The more knowledgeable readers will know that most of the birds describe above are not exactly noted flyers and their nest are not build on elevated areas. I will concede this fact but that is the point of building nest in high places. It is to prevent predators from getting at their hatchlings. Note that an egg takes shorter time to hatch compared to the time required for the hatchling to learn to fly. Naturally, if all hatchlings are self-sufficient by the first day, there is no need for the parent to bother building nest in high places.        

On a final note, although it is tempting to think that all nest in high places are all assemblies of different parts, there are birds like woodpeckers whose home are empty cavities in trees. As such, there are often no nearby branches for the fledglings to hop on so they leave their nest only when they are ready to fly.