Special Delivery
I was sitting on the front porch, at home in Costa Rica, facing the big garden, an expansive mix of flowering tropical plants, palms and ferns, surrounded by a tall hibiscus hedge, and overhung that day with a midmorning cloud streaked sky.
Two yellow-breasted birds circle and land on the electrical line over the front yard. After sitting together for a few moments, one flies off in a large sweep while the other remains perched in place. Shortly, the first bird returns to his or her place on the wire with something in its mouth, and the two join their half-open beaks in what looks like a gentle kiss. A kiss, except there is the transfer of something from beak to beak – a bug? a crumb of leftovers from the garbage?
This sweep is repeated several times, the same one flying off and the other one waiting on the wire. When the feeder bird leaves to get more food, the other bird, the one being fed, flies out in a little circle, then lands again, stretches its head up high, and opens it’s beak like a funnel, reminiscent of baby birds in the nest. The waiting bird’s juvenile behavior continues until the first bird returns with its special delivery food service. After several rounds, the two fly off together, ending the somewhat bizarre display.
What was I watching? Perhaps a mother feeding her last hatchling? These two birds were matched in size and flight skills, so the baby bird theory is unlikely. Could this be courting behavior? If so, is it the female doing the feeding or the one being fed? Is this a teaching exercise, or a playful game, or maybe a doctor bird administering medicine? What?
I asked the uniformed attendant at the park station about this ambiguous behavior but she said she had never heard of it. And I have not seen it since.
