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flyaway > May 9, Day 5: Although a whistle no longer works, a kissing sound will still make the nestlings gape -- and one of them is peeping! Tiny white feather sheaths are just starting to form on their breasts, and the sheaths on their wings are getting longer.
flyaway > May 5, Day 1: The sixth chick has emerged, and all six are squirming. The hatchlings' skin is still translucent; you can see veins and large muscles through it. Their eyes are still closed -- they'll open in about a week. Any stimulus makes the chicks gape. The sight of that huge mouth - as wide as the chick's entire head - stimulates the parents to put food into it. The seventh egg has still not hatched. I hope the chick is all right.
flyaway > May 4, Day 0 - BirthDay: Five chicks have hatched -- some just in the past hour or so. The sixth eggshell is cracked but the chick has not yet emerged. The seventh egg - the last one laid - is still unbroken. The hatchlings are exhausted from the strenuous job of breaking out of their shells, and just flop down fast asleep wherever they are. While they rest, the parents carry away all the broken shell fragments to keep the nest soft, clean and safe. The eyes look enormous in the tiny heads because songbirds' eyes start out at full adult size, and the hatchlings gradually grow into them. But they're still undeveloped, and won't open for a week. Their ears are also still sealed - the ear-holes will open in a few days. You can see the yolk of the egg in the abdomen of the chick closest to the bottom of the photo. The yolk nourishes the embryo during development. Shortly before hatching, the yolk sac withdraws into the abdomen to continue providing nourishment for the first few days of life. Once it has fully retracted, the navel closes and heals, and the chick is ready to hatch.
flyaway > May 17, Day 13: This chick's flight feathers are fully grown. In a few days there will be several chicks bumbling around in the trees near the nestbox as they work on learning to take off, land, and steer a straight line.
flyaway > May 10, Day 6: Dad dive-bombed us repeatedly today. When I tried to put the ruler into the box to take a photo, he flew right into the back of my hand trying to chase the big blue predator away from his babies.
flyaway > BOX 4 May 31: There's almost always a swallow parent guarding the nestbox.
flyaway > May 22, Day 18 Chickadees have only one brood a year, but a few other cavity nesters -- including bluebirds -- have several, so with the fledglings gone, we cleaned out the used nesting material to ready the nest box for possible new tenants. Here you can see the structure of the nest. Most of the soft plant fibers that lined the nest cup have been trampled down by the chicks and carried out of the nestbox stuck to the parents' feet, but the thick mossy base is mostly intact. It is amazing that a pair of such small birds carried all of this material in their bills, a tiny mouthful at a time, to create this soft, cushiony home to raise their babies.
flyaway > May 21, Day 17: FLEDGING DAY We heard peeping from a nearby tree as we approached, and when we got to the nest we found it empty. There are no signs of predation, so it appears that all seven chicks fledged successfully. Mom and Dad were probably experienced parents, and they did a great job of raising their brood. They will continue to feed the fledglings for awhile until the chicks learn how to find food on their own. Thank you for giving us the great privilege of watching you grow, little chickadees. Have a good life!
flyaway > May 20, Day 16 Dad continues his dive-bombing. We take our photos as quickly as we can and leave.
May 9, Day 5:


Although a whistle no longer works, a kissing sound will still make the nestlings gape -- and one of them is peeping! Tiny white feather sheaths are just starting to form on their breasts, and the sheaths on their wings are getting longer.
flyaway > May 9, Day 5: Although a whistle no longer works, a kissing sound will still make the nestlings gape -- and one of them is peeping! Tiny white feather sheaths are just starting to form on their breasts, and the sheaths on their wings are getting longer.
May 9, Day 5:


Although a whistle no longer works, a kissing sound will still make the nestlings gape -- and one of them is peeping! Tiny white feather sheaths are just starting to form on their breasts, and the sheaths on their wings are getting longer.
See photo in gallery
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