Feldging moment of the Red Junglefowl

“A new brood of six Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) chicks was sighted at the perimeter of my condo on 5th March 2013. I was not sure if this was the fourth or fifth brood as there was a long interval of two months since I last saw the third brood LINK. On 7th March 2013, the number of chicks has reduced to five. I was fortunate to witness what seemed to be the first flight (fledging) of one of the chicks across a wide trench drain.

“Red Junglefowl chicks fledge when they are about 12 days old.

“Another 3 days later (10 Mar), the brood was left with only two chicks. Again, I was extremely fortunate to witness the whole episode of the last chick’s fledging moment. The second fledging moment in the edited video captured the hesitation and anxiety of the chicks at the edge of the trench drain side wall, and coaxing by both parents. The chick’s chirps in desperation, which I mistook for the chirps of different birds initially, when it could not get near to the mother, were heard. In the end, the chick gathered enough courage to take the plunge (or more appropriately the flight) across the drain successfully. This was as good as seeing a stage performance except that the camera man was not notified in advance to prepare for it.

“The chick’s fledging behaviour is reflective of any animal’s decision making process, including that of the human being.

Sun Chong Hong
Singapore
14th April 2013