Eastern Bluebird (CCES2, KY)
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Species: Eastern Bluebird (Sialia sialis)
Location: Caldwell County Elementary School, Princeton, KY
Status: Four young fledged within an hour of each other on July 5th!
Location: Caldwell County Elementary School, Princeton, KY
Status: Four young fledged within an hour of each other on July 5th!
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July 5 - FLEDGING! All four chicks fledged today! |
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The first one leaves the box... |
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Three chicks remaining! |
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Then two... |
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...and then there was one. |
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Here's our last view of the bluebird
family! The fledglings will remain with their parents for up to
three weeks, learning to forage and care for themselves. --------------------------------------- |
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July 4 - These chicks will probably
fledge around the 7th or 8th of July, since the average fledging age is
about 19 days for E. bluebirds. |
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July 3 - One bluebird chick stretches
its fully-feathered wings. The last few days offer some great
photos of the flight feathers growing in. |
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July 2 - Another shot showing one bluebird's wing that is almost completely feathered now. The rate of increase in the chicks' wing length is greatest at this age. |
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July 1 - The wing feathers continue to break free. |
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June 30 - Here is a good shot of one of the baby bird's flight feathers starting to emerge from their sheaths. |
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June 29 - The female feeds a
grasshopper to one of the chicks. Grasshoppers and crickets make
up about a fourth of the E. bluebird's diet. |
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June 28 - Feathers are emerging all along the backs of the chicks. In this photo, the sheathed feathers appear bright blue. |
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June 27 - One of the chicks is already
'preening' its new feathers! At 9 days old, the young birds'
secondary and capital feathers and rectrices are breaking out of their
sheaths. |
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June 22 - The baby birds' eyes won't open until they are about 5 or 6 days old. |
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June 21 - At only 2 days old, the chicks have nearly doubled in size! |
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June 20 - The chicks beg for food from
the father, though they probably wouldn't like to eat the fecal sac he
is removing from the nest. |
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June 19 - Here's a great shot of all
four chicks huddled in the nest cup. The female will be back to
brood between food runs. |
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--------------------------------------- HATCHING DAYS! June 19 - These eggs hatched over a 2-day period--the third chick must have hatched during the night. The baby birds' down has dried and fluffed out. |
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Evidence that the last egg has hatched! It is about 8:30 AM. |
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The male drops by with some food for the new chicks. They've grown since yesterday! |
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June 18 - FIRST DAY OF HATCHING! This camera offers some great close-up shots of the newly-hatched chicks! Hatching began around 5 PM. |
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The first chick emerges from its shell! |
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The new chicks are naked and can barely move. They are almost translucent when they first hatch. |
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The second chick is hatching! The first chick has its 'wings' stretched out over the shell. |
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The dark streaks on the chicks are wet down. |
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The chicks start begging for food almost as soon as they are out of their eggs! --------------------------------------- |
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June 15 - There are about 4 days left before the chicks should hatch. |
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June 12 - Female bluebirds spend about
61% of their time on the eggs, incubating for roughly 15-minute periods
and taking 10-minute breaks in between. |
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June 9 - The female rotates the eggs. They should hatch around the 19th or 20th of June. |
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June 7 - It looks like the clutch is complete at four eggs. |
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June 6 - This camera sends us
beautiful clear pictures of the nest. We'll be seeing the female
on the eggs most of the time for the next two weeks. |
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June 5 - The female laid one egg a day starting on June
2, so if there are still four eggs after tomorrow, we will know this is
the entire clutch! |