UTSW Rookery

Spring 2016 I started visiting the bird rookery at UTSW Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. It was my first time to see a rookery. In this gallery I am attempting to document what takes place in a rookery for each species of aquatic bird that comes here. It has been an amazing journey that I am sharing here. There are 8 species that nest here and I will divide them by species in the order that they show up.

Feeding Great Egret Fledglings Is Violent 4 of 14

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Feeding Great Egret Fledglings Is Violent 4 of 14

If you look closely you can see that both babies have grabbed their parent. The siblings are in competition for the food and survival so there is no gentleness here. The baby further back has the head and eyes grasped of the parent. The baby in the forground is trying to get its head in position at the parents throat. What they are after is to be in the right position when the parent can be forced to open its bill and regurgitate food.
Great Egret Fledglings (Ardea alba)
UT Southwest Medical Center Rookery

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