#brood patch

[xpuigc-bloc]

Cheri Smith

Brood patch

[ostdrossel]

This MoDo

decided to go for a preening session while it was waiting for a refill of the food bowl. The spot in the middle where it looks like it’s making a trench is where the brood patch is located. I just read the other day that MoDos are one of the earlier nesters in Michigan, and I am wondering where their nest is.

[horatioandalice]

BEHOLD THE VOID

(The bald spot is actually Beatrix’ brood patch from sitting on her recent clutch of eggs!  In some species of birds, when incubating eggs they will lose some of their breast feathers and grow extra blood vessels under the skin in order to help keep the eggs warm.  Once they’re done sitting on the eggs, the feathers will grow back.  The first time Beatrix laid eggs and developed a brood patch I freaked out because I didn’t know what it was and I was like “IS SHE DYING”)

[ostdrossel]

Speaking of brood patches,

Red-bellied woodpeckers have them too, and since with this species, the male and the female both sit on the eggs, the male also has a brood patch. In these photos, you can see the “crevice” along his belly very well. In between that line, a patch of bare skin is hiding which, when it touches and covers the eggs, can keep them warm.

[abdulmateenposts]

Process of Incubation from EGG to Hatching

Process of Incubation from EGG to Hatching

To produce a chick from the egg there should be a hen whose broodiness period is more than 1 month. As modern hen is not good in broodiness so in that case, the world faces the shortage of chicks. But this difficulty is solved by modern science. Natural incubation:

Natural incubation is a processin which the chick comes from the egg by the heat of the hen. In this period hen got brood…

View On WordPress

[talons-mcbeak]

I picked up one of our rehab screech owls today to check on some foot issues aaaaand GIGANTIC BROOD PATCH. Well then. One of the few times I’ve been able to definitively sex a screech owl! 😂

[porchwood]

Incubation provides the heat needed for embryos to develop inside the eggs of ducks and geese. Because the required temperature range of developing embryos is narrow, parents must commit to a rigorous incubation schedule...

Female waterfowl periodically turn and manipulate eggs within the nest to maintain close contact with the brood patch and to promote even heat distribution. Eggs in the center of the clutch are closer to the female's brood patch and consequently warmer than eggs on the perimeter. To reduce temperature differences among eggs, females shift them within the nest so that each one can be directly exposed to the brood patch. [...]

For approximately four weeks, females incubate their eggs in relative silence. Then, one or two days before hatching, clicking and peeping sounds are emitted from the eggs. Small cracks appear on the surface of each egg as the hatchlings strike the shell using their egg tooth—a tooth-like accessory on the bill that falls off shortly after hatching. Vocalizations by the young help synchronize hatching and assist with imprinting because they stimulate vocalization by the female. The hatchlings finally emerge from the eggs after about 3 to 24 hours and dry in a few additional hours. 

~  John M. Coluccy, Ph.D., & Jennifer Thieme

So this is basically about female ducks but we’re all envisioning gander!Peeta doing these things, right? ❤

[porchwood]

Birds have feathers for insulation — to keep body heat in, and the cold and rain out. But the same feathers that hold a mother bird's heat in could keep her body's heat away from her eggs and her babies! What can she do to share her body warmth when she's incubating eggs?

Most female birds, and some males, develop a brood patch during the breeding season. Changes in hormone levels during the nesting season start the process. Down feathers on the bird's tummy, and even some contour feathers, suddenly get very loose. In some species, those feathers just fall out. In other species the mother pulls them out. Ducks pull them out while building the nest and use them to make the nest soft and extra warm...

When the feathers fall out, other changes happen too. The tissue in the tummy area swells. The tissues hold more water, and the blood vessels that feed the skin expand. These changes make the bird's tummy skin almost as hot as the body's interior.

In most songbirds, only the female develops a brood patch, but in a few species the male also does. In species such as hummingbirds, robins, and jays, only the female incubates eggs. In these species only the female develops a brood patch. In a few species, such as phalaropes, only the male incubates; he's the only one who develops a brood patch...

When an incubating parent sits on the eggs, the skin muscles open up the brood patch. Then the parent sits down and wiggles its body back and forth a bit. The sensitive skin feels for the eggs so the parent can settle where the skin makes best contact with the eggs.

~ Journey North

“And that’s when Papa Gander’s moment finally arrives,” I tell him happily. “He’ll have duly plucked out a ridiculous amount of belly down to create his brood patch – an area of skin with good blood flow for incubating the eggs,” I explain. “Which perplexed but delighted his mate at the time, since he used that down to cushion and insulate their nest, and now he can guide those disgruntled newborn goslits under said brood patch – which their instincts are probably guiding them to anyway – for warmth and comfort.” ~ WtM, Ch 14

Sharing because I’m a gigantic (bird) nerd, just in case anyone is curious about the brood patch reference in Ch 14. I’m convinced that broody gander!Peeta would pluck his belly half-bald in his enthusiasm to incubate vixen!Katniss’s eggs, which of course his “perplexed but delighted” mate would take full advantage of.