Burt writes:
" Then the immature climbed onto the suet cage, and even though it was millimeters from the suet, it seemed to do little or no independent feeding while the adult continued to stuff suet into its mouth. "

I don't know anything about the transition to self-feeding, but I've noticed similar behavior from robins. When our cherries ripen, the baby robins will sit on the ground next to a cherry and wait for mom or dad to pick up the cherry and stuff it into the youngster's mouth.

Kelly Cassidy
Pullman, WA
mailto:lostriver at completebbs.com