Learning to forage can be hard

In the bird world – ducks included – young birds almost always have lower survival than adults. In ducks the difference is about 10% lower annual survival. Part of the differential survival is about learning to find food.

In hawks, where foraging is much more difficult, there is a huge difference between adult and first-year birds in survival.

I watched this young Red-tailed Hawk hit the grass. No surprise, he came up with nothing.