Birds on Thursday

Eyes are totally open. Wings are developing and feathers are very, very clear.

Thomas's Presentation

Tonight we went to a Father/Son presentation night at Thomas's school. We put together a timeline with 10 questions about these birds and did a life science display. It was alot of fun! They are growing so much and we believe that soon they will leave the nest. Halfway through our tracking Wendy's camera broke so the quality of pictures during this project went down significantly.

After 7 Days

Two days ago one of the baby birds died. We were very sad. However, the Momma removed this little one and is taking care of the other two. They are growing every day, more feathers, eyes open nearly all the time now and the feeding continues.

Todays Picture/Video

This morning the birds are doing well. Mom continues to feed, care and work hard to protect them. I am amazed that everytime we go out she is gone; out collecting food. Several times we have sat and watched (at a distance) for about 30 minutes. She comes back 3-4 times with food.

Eyes and Hair

After looking at a number of other website photos of these birds we have determined them to be about 4-5 days old (as of Sunday). That would put them at about 7 days old today. Their eyes (per Wesley) are starting to open and they are getting some hair.

We will post video and photos as soon as we are able to get technologically savvy enough to use this digital video camera.

Wrens

After much research (about an hour) with Wesley and I we determined that our new little friends are Wrens. This description on Sialis helped us most:

Wren: smaller, long pointy beak, white stripe over eye, buffy orange belly, tail often held upright. Will also use a nestbox. Photo by Zimmerman.

Being that they were in our BBQ pit (nest box) and the other markings were close - we are pretty sure.

Discovery!

Yesterday we were getting ready to have a BBQ. I pulled out the grill and opened it up only to find three newborn baby birds. Being that Thomas has a Father/Son science night next week and Wesley wants to be an animal activist, we thought it would be great to track the progress of our new find and learn about them.

So here you will find pictures, videos, links, news and thoughts as we keep a daily journal of the growth and life of our new found friends! Enjoy!