Nidicolous animals are those that stay at their nest or birthplace for a long time after birth, due to their dependence on the parents for feeding, protection and learning survival skills. It is the opposite of nidifugous where the animal is able to leave the nest very quickly. The great majority of nidicolous animals are altricial, in that an animal born helpless, blind, without feathers, etc simply is unable to fend for itself. Examples of nidicolous animals are most mammals, marsupials and many species of birds. However, the concepts of altricial and nidicolous are not identical. All altricial animals are nidicolous by necessity, however, an animal may be nidicolous, i.e. staying at the nest, even if they are precocial and fully capable of leaving if needed.[1]