It's Baby Bird Time!

Baby birds start out as small as this. The first time I saw one -- with such thin skin you could see all their blood moving through their veins, with eyes undeveloped, and the tiniest little half limbs -- I didn't believe it could possibly eat or live.

But even in such a vulnerable state, that little rim of bright school bus yellow opens wide as soon as food it put near and every morsel delivered is consumed with great vigor. It's flabbergasting, and only reinforces what miracles of nature go on every day, all around us, all the time.

As they grow, the little half-limbs I mention become strong and feathered wings, their eyes mature and finally open, their little legs get strong enough to shoot their growing bodies straight up when I walk by because I MEAN FOOD (and they want it every 15 minutes it seems, except at night, when birds settle in for sleep) and their little yellow beaks open to reveal the brightest pink and red mouths. Here's what I see when I walk by a tank:

Now once the bird gets to a beginning fledgeling, we move them to bigger tanks and put them in a room that's enclosed in netting, as when you open the lid, often a hungry baby now can flit up and out. Here is one who did just that but simply perched close to me on the lid of the tank next to it. Generally speaking, it's often the babies who are most aggressive get the most food in the nest -- though some experienced mothers make sure everyone gets enough. But this little guy kept hopping out to beat out his or her two siblings who stayed in the tank.

Fledgelings add flapping their wings and making much noise, squawking "SEE ME, FEED ME, ME ME ME mom!!!!" Now when I'm out in late springtime I can make out fledgling squawkings. If I take a second or two to look, and indeed I do, I manage to find a nest and a mother nearby.

At some point, that turns into the babies taking their first tentative steps out of the nest, so you may see them actually sitting on a branch next to it, looking all fluffy and even a little like their molting as bigger feathers begin to replace their baby fuzz. Soon they begin flying lessons I think, since I've seen them trying to hop to nearby twigs following the mother who hops ahead of them -- I assume she's showing them how it's done.

I think grackles must be like those kids who never stop going to college, or come home to live after... they look fully grown and still hop after their mothers flapping their perfectly competent wings, insisting loudly that their mother give them half of whatever she's got. The more you observe, them more you realize that animals are really not that much different than us in so many ways!