Crikey they grow quick! Just seven days old (well, one chick is 7, there are 4 who are 6, and 1 who is a little over 5) and the blue tit chicks have at least doubled in size, perhaps three times! Plus they have cute little tufts of feathers on their heads and you can clearly see the starts of the feathers on their wings. I’m pretty sure the oldest’s eyes are just starting to open now too. So, the rate of growth got me wondering how long they stay in the nest before fledging? In comes Google. For reference I’ve included the information below (for future years):
| Breeding Starts | Number of Clutches | Number of Eggs | Incubation (days) | Fledge (days) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mid-April | 1-2 Normally just one. |
5-16 | 12-16 | 15-23 |
Here’s a little clip of how they are doing:
And a cute picture of mum trying to keep the chicks warm, but it seems that all squashed together in the cup of the nest they are a bit too big to nestle underneath her…
Nice…. I guess they need to grow quickly to decrease the probability of being caught by a cat whilst they are helpless.
Or a crow – I saw one take a blackbird fledgeling from it’s nest last week – it could hardly carry it and the parents were making a lot of noise, but didn’t attack it.