How precious! I had 3 carolina dees to fledge weeks ago and the parents are bringing them to the feeders. Congrats and I hope all goes well.

Donna

OMG how cute!! When will they be fledging?

Hope you don't mind but I will share a pic of my newly hatched baby Dees, these three just hatched today. Hopefully the other two will be hatched by tomorrow.

Donna

Oh, I don't mind the pic of the hatchlings at all! On the contrary, such pics always remind me of the miracle that these hatchlings become flying birds in no time at all.

My own nestlings are now 14 days old and have started exercising their wings in the box, sooo cute and sooo necessary for them. They will fledge in 2 days according to the 'book'. They will be able to fly well in their first attempt outside the box, but they cannot land well, and often fall down from a branch to the ground. This is a concern as there are the usual pet cats and pet dogs around in this suburban area. Let's hope they fly right away to the wooded area behind the houses across the street.

Ontario you know not to check the box anymore right. It could cause premature fledging and then they will not be able to fly well enough to get away from predators.
Cathy

Let us know when they fledge. My three hatchlings are now four, not sure if the other egg will hatch or not. You have an inbox cam that you are taking the pics with, right? I thought I recalled that from an earlier posting from you.

Donna

No inbox cam. I made a special box so that I can observe the baby birds without them noticing me. If you look at the pic that I posted, you see the baby birds not gaping, they don't even notice that I am taking photographs, LOL.

The mother bird sometimes notices me, but she doesn't care. I provide food, water, and shelter for my backyard chickadees year round, e.g. heated birdbaths so that they can drink water in the middle of winter instead of having to eat snow.

The baby birds are still there, I just peeked in, LOL. Estimated hatch is tomorrow, but I hope they will stay a few days longer. One of the three is noticeably smaller, it will have much better survival chances the longer it stays in the box.

Sorry, estimated FLEDGE is tomorrow, LOL

Intersting, you will have to explain your setup, just curious. Oh and baby birds do not gape at monitors except when they are just hatched, they learn quickly what is their parent and what is not. Usually baby birds will hunker down when monitored as yours are in your pic. How do they not see your or your camera? They say Chickadee are prone to early fledging when monitored so they must not be seeing you.

Donna

While you can't see all of them, there are six babies in this nest. This was the last picture I took of them at 11 days of age (I know I must not open the box again to prevent premature fledging). I can't believe how fast they grow.

Oh my Kendra how adorable and lucky you with 6!!

Donna

The 3 babies are still in the box this morning, a few hours short of 14 days old (they hatched in the afternoon hours).

The baby birds in my pic do not hunker down, that is their normal position when they are at rest in the nest cup and at complete ease. They do gape when I inadvertently make a noise, even a soft noise. This is not like usual monitoring where the baby birds see the monitor. I know this all because I peek several times a day in my special spybox and have watched them at rest, move about, fluttering their wings, etc (I have also done monitoring the usual way)

Yesterday late evening I peeked in the box, briefly turning on a faint light and saw the mother bird sleeping and fluffed up big time. It was a bit colder than the previous days at 8 degrees Centigrade. She looked very much like a mammal with very long fur, LOL.

Sorry, this morning the 3 babies are nearly 16 (SIXTEEN)days old.

Hah, I am always so happy just before the fledge and always so sad after they have fledged.

They have fledged! Some time between 7:30 am and 9:00 am. They were nearly 19 days old, as they hatched in the afternoon hours. I missed the fledge, grrr! Good luck in the great nature, young birds!

Congratulations!! I, too missed my dees when they fledged, which was weeks ago, but the parents continue to bring them to the feeders.

Donna