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New Birdies!
Dec. 18th, 2009 11:08 am We now have two fledglings!
One of them almost came out Wednesday; the parents (and Thomas and me) spent all afternoon encouraging the little hatchling that kept poking its head out. He got so close that at one point we thought surely he'd just fall out. But no. Then the mother bird got back in the nest, and while the Daddy bird fluttered and called, she literally PUSHED the hatching! The nest shook, but that little thing clutched the edge of the nest hole with all his might. Finally we all gave up.
Then Thursday when I got up it was just there, sitting on top of the nest box, like it'd been there all along. Then after a couple of hours it had had enough of the real world and when back in the nest and wouldn't come back out again.
Finally, this morning, the other hatchling decided that enough was enough and it was time to fledge. Plus, it had been two more days, and that was probably how much younger it was than the sibling. —They had thrown out an egg a few days ago that didn't hatch, so it (the egg) was probably laid on the day between the two that hatched. It's amazing how exactly on schedule these little things are. Books and things always say "around" so many days, when they talk about hatching, and fledging, but I've raised several nests full, and they are alway precisely on time. One at a time hatches, and one at a time fledges.
Of course we can't be sure for another week or two of their sex, after their final feathers all color up and their beaks get their final color. They're not full grown even after they fledge, after all. They still have to be fed for another week, a job the daddy bird does all by himself once they are out of the nest. (They both have to feed nestlings, since the little things need food much more often.) And I have to remove the nest box, because the female is likely to lay another egg today. And it wouldn't be good for her to have clutches so close together.
One of them almost came out Wednesday; the parents (and Thomas and me) spent all afternoon encouraging the little hatchling that kept poking its head out. He got so close that at one point we thought surely he'd just fall out. But no. Then the mother bird got back in the nest, and while the Daddy bird fluttered and called, she literally PUSHED the hatching! The nest shook, but that little thing clutched the edge of the nest hole with all his might. Finally we all gave up.
Then Thursday when I got up it was just there, sitting on top of the nest box, like it'd been there all along. Then after a couple of hours it had had enough of the real world and when back in the nest and wouldn't come back out again.
Finally, this morning, the other hatchling decided that enough was enough and it was time to fledge. Plus, it had been two more days, and that was probably how much younger it was than the sibling. —They had thrown out an egg a few days ago that didn't hatch, so it (the egg) was probably laid on the day between the two that hatched. It's amazing how exactly on schedule these little things are. Books and things always say "around" so many days, when they talk about hatching, and fledging, but I've raised several nests full, and they are alway precisely on time. One at a time hatches, and one at a time fledges.
Of course we can't be sure for another week or two of their sex, after their final feathers all color up and their beaks get their final color. They're not full grown even after they fledge, after all. They still have to be fed for another week, a job the daddy bird does all by himself once they are out of the nest. (They both have to feed nestlings, since the little things need food much more often.) And I have to remove the nest box, because the female is likely to lay another egg today. And it wouldn't be good for her to have clutches so close together.
