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.
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.
