Last month, we came home from our trip to the beach to find that a small Carolina Finch had built her nest in one of the hanging flower pots on my front porch. The nest was almost beehive-like, with a small opening, which made it camoflauge nicely among the fuschia leaves.
After a few weeks, I checked the nest, and was pleasantly surprised to see five small white speckled eggs inside. Of course, I lifted the kids up one at a time so they could see and they couldn't believe it. It was all Emma could do to keep her hands off of it. We waited and watched, and little Ms. Finch hardly ever left her nest. She would sit completely still in her nest, only with her eyes peeking out.We found out everything we could about Carolina Finches and their remarkable ways. The male and female stay together in pairs for long periods of time. While the female sits on her eggs, the male feeds her continually. And when the eggs first hatch, the mom stays in the nest with them and the dad feeds all of them! (Wow, gentleman, this male makes the occasional midnight run to Dairy Queen look like a walk in the park.) As they grow bigger, both parents begin to feed them, and within 13-14 days, they are ready to fly.
So one day last week, I heard a squeaking noise when I turned on the porch light. I climbed up and sure enough, those little eggs were now little birds. So cute! My kids loved it. We have watched them for the past week and they grew big so quickly and got crazy feathers that stuck straight up on top of their heads. Two days ago, some of them actually left the nest and wandered around the flower pot. I was so scared they would fall out, but they didn't.
We had become totally attached to our little adopted family of finches, so this morning when the front porch was a little too quiet, I was hesitant to even look. Sure enough, I climbed up to see that the birds were gone. Flying the world with newfound wings. The whole process was totally enthralling.
6 comments:
Those are the best nature shots ever of darling baby birds with their beaks wide open. What an informative write-up. Thanks Marisa! I can't believe you captured all of it from eggs to peepers. Marvelous!
So precious! I love these pictures too. Beautiful. How absolutely fun for the kids. Perfect.
What a fun post. Your backyard babies are precious. We have Cassin Finches that love the four Italian Junipers in our backyard. Since we've been here there have been lots of babies born outback. I've tried to get pix, but never any that have come close to what you have. I wanted to share the experience with Zoie a couple years ago, but after a trip to Woodland Park Zoo aviary, she wasn't getting near the trees. Ty, with all good intentions had bought a stick with birdseed stuck on it. Well, once in the aviary, the birds bombarded Zoie and Ty and that pretty much killed her desire to get near to birds. She hasn't fully gotten over that experience. Jean
Hi
adorable. Rare opportunity to observe baby birds so close. Thanks for sharing.
These are awesome pictures Marisa! How cute! I am excited because we have the exact same thing going on at our house! I found them in a planter a couple of days ago...only 2 eggs. They are in a second floor window planter, so it's perfect because I don't have to worry about the kids touching, but they can watch so closely. I think the mom is a dove...but I don't know birds at all. :)
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