Parent teaching chick what to eat

Another walk on the path around Western Springs Lake. The chick I watched this afternoon looks like it is the same one that I saw last time I was at the Springs. Then, it looked very newly hatched, and this afternoon it was a little more demanding.

However, the parent (or caregiver, given that Pukeko share the raising of chicks through an extended social group) spent a substantial amount of the time I was watching demonstrating where on the plants to find the best bits, and showing the chick how to get its own food, and then rewarding it with a smidgeon of leaf. My photo records the adult giving a reward to the chick for a good effort at feeding itself.