Baby Bird Days

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April – May is a great time to spot VERY CUTE baby birds in the wetlands! ☀️

Impatient chick

Two hungry Red-winged Blackbird fledglings beg mama to hurry back with more breakfast.

Patient chick 😉

Red-winged Blackbirds usually have a clutch of 2-4 eggs, which they incubate for about two weeks. But the chicks soon fledge and leave the nest in another two weeks. (All About Birds – Red-winged Blackbird).

I was lucky to spot the two fledglings above 👆🏼 sitting on a narrow branch together before they were old enough to fly off on their own.

Comical Common Gallinule (Moorhen) chick uses his improbably long toes to scratch an itchy beak.😅

The Common Gallinules have up to 15 eggs per clutch, with an incubation period of almost three weeks (All About Birds – Common Gallinule). Both parents care for the eggs and the chicks, and continue to assist in feeding as the babies grow.

Hatchlings may leave the nest and go to the water with a parent within the first day, but they do not become fully independent for another 5 to 7 weeks.

Great Egret nestlings making their presence known with lots of noise!

Great Egrets lay 1-6 eggs and the incubation period is three to four weeks before hatching. Chicks begin to leave the nest as fledglings about three and a half weeks later (All About Birds – Great Egret).

Great Egret chicks take their time. They practice (very awkwardly!) flapping their wings and hopping about, gradually moving from the edge of the nest to nearby branches (a process called branching), before taking off independently at 5 to 7 weeks.

Before you know it, these and all the countless other baby birds will be gone and we’ll wait again for another season next year. ♥️

23 thoughts on “Baby Bird Days”

  11. It’s taken a while before I found this post (too much time in the garden), but I’m glad I didn’t miss out on this cute flock of youngsters. They made me smile, but I’m glad that I’m not a parent bird trying to keep them fed, hehe!

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