The dees are wonderful little houseguests! I had them for the first (in several years) time along with bbs in another box. Both parents will incubate and it usually takes about 11-13 days. Presumably, they are not as tolerant of monitoring as the blues, so I chose not to check on things very often. They are so fast in and out of the box, so it's easy to miss them. And yes, both Mom and Dad feed the babies.

My dee Mom laid 5 eggs, but after they fledged and I cleaned out the box, there were two eggs that didn't hatch..the other 3 made it just fine!

Congrats and I hope all goes well.

Donna

OH lucky u!! I want chickadees to nest in 1 of my boxes sooooooo bad! I don't have any answers for u, but I wanted u to know how lucky u r!!

Congrats.

Karen

Congratulations! The dees are my favorite nest box guest! I just love 'em. I will tell you that in my experience my dees are just as, if not more, tolerant of monitoring as my bluebirds are. I've been lucky enough to host them for the last 5 (maybe 6?) years and they seem to communicate with me more than any other bird in my yard. I have several dee stories over the years that tell me they know I'm there to help and would not harm them, their eggs, or their babies.

Having said that, I've read many times that chickadees are not as tolerant of monitoring and might even abandon a nest that is monitored. Truth be, not nearly as much research has been put into nesting chickadees as nesting bluebirds.

I never monitor unnecessarily but there have been times (like this season with my dees) when monitoring saved one little dees life. His/her foot was stuck on some of the nesting material and there was no way in the world he would have been able to fledge (this, btw, was day 22!!!! Way past time to fledge) had I not removed him, the nest, and soaked the foot that was stuck to something in the nest. I returned him, nest and all, and he fledged with in an hour. I have no doubts that the adults knew I was helping him and were happy that I checked. His siblings had likely fledged 3 to 4 days before him.

My Carolina Dees usually are on a similar schedule as the bluebirds and Brown Headed Nuthatches, the other species that has nested in my boxes. They usually hatch on about the 13th day and usually fledge on the 18th or 19th day. I think only the female incubates.

Thanks, I did find quite a bit on sialis.org but it did not mention intolerance of monitoring. So, I checked this morning and still only three eggs so I will lay low for now and not disturb them any more.

They are a favorite of mine too. So gregarious and sweet!

If the eggs are hatched on or about 13 days after being laid - they fledge 5-6 days later? Is that correct? This is my very first hatching ever so I don't know. I read something similar on sialis.org but it doesn't seem possible for them to fledge so quickly. My eggs were all laid by the 11th so that means next week or sooner I could see babies?

Thanks for the help

Incubation is 12-13 days until the eggs hatch then fledging is approx 16 days from the hatching date. My Dees have been incubating for a week now so by this time next week I should have baby Dees too, I cannot wait! Hope all goes well with your Dees.

Donna

Whew! thanks for clarifying that for me! I have been watching poppa bring momma food so she is sitting nicely.

Chickadees are so neet. I love to watch them feed their babies. They yap back and forth. They're God's form of free entertainment.