Feeling Flighty

Oldest baby - legband 1409, 28 days. At the beginning of the photo shoot, she was skittish and pressed to the ground in baby posture. An hour later, she was sitting on my shoulder, chirping, observing the world and grinding her beak like a grown bird. I have never seen a 'tiel with the pinpoint yellow "pearls" on her breast feathers - less than a pearl but different from the stripes of her "underpants" feathers. She has the most, and brightest, yellow on her face. Must come from feeding the parents conditioning & molting food.

Baby 2 - legband 1435, 26 days. A very squirrelly bird; always on the go. This is the only shot of got that was even a little bit clear. She is a deep, deep gray, has black feet and only two or three white nape feathers. Still likes to huddle close to the ground but is getting better at perching. For some reason unknown to me, the birds act more like grownups once they start perching. It is as if that weight redistribution flips a switch in their little birdy brain! Baby 3 - legband 1438, 24 days. Giving #2 a real run for her money in the development department; if not for the bands I would not have been able to tell them apart in age until the feathers started coming in. This one has quite a few yellow crest and nape feathers and is a soft gray. Baby 4 -legband 1475, 22 days. She still has quite a few feathers in pins (even some baby fuzz in places), and a cute naked patch visible on her crop. Has the pinpoint yellow dots on her breast feathers, but more faint than 1409. Her beak is quite dark and her feet are black. They aren't experimenting with food and water yet, but it will be any day now. They started clambering out of the nextbox early this week and I think I will remove it entirely tomorrow and add some more perches (low to the ground) for them to practice on. Hamlet & Violet are looking a little thin - definitely time to take a break from parenting.