Unlike baby piping plover, baby least terns can’t feed themselves. So as soon as they hatch, mom & dad start living the dream of many-a-retiree down the shore: a summer of nothing but fishing.
Unfortunately, the least tern instruction manual seems a little light on specifics about feeding your new family. Beyond “get fish” and “bring fish” there clearly isn’t much detail about being a good parent. As you are about to see, the adults are perfectly happy delivering a fish that is just way too big for a freshly hatched chick to efficiently consume. Maybe the rule is simply “if they can take it from you, they can eat it.”
It’s actually not too uncommon to see a baby LETE with a fish tail hanging out of its mouth. I’ve always wondered how they actually finish it, but my schedule or my patience has always worn out before I could find out!
The video you are about to see clocks in at a healthy 5 mins, but has been heavily edited down. This went on for almost 30 minutes before one of the adults finally remembered an appendix from their instruction manual: The Least Tern Heimlich Maneuver.
In one sense, it was tough to watch because I kept imagining myself splayed out in the burning sun with a Wawa hoagie stuck 3/4 of the way down my throat. But clearly, they can handle it. The chick was able to pant, to chirp, and seemed much more interested in getting shade than in expelling the fish hanging out of its mouth and dragging through the sand.
Still, the adults were actively trying to dislodge it, so we can assume they were not exactly loving this moment either.
But what’s the first thing the baby did when the apparent ordeal was over? Beg for another fish, that’s what!
Enjoy (?) the video below.
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