Little Thrush

 Little Thrush

Hey look! There’s a bird’s nest in that tree, d’you want to see the three pretty blue eggs in it? Where’s the mother bird? Oh there she is, on a branch and look, she’s watching us! She must have felt her eggs vibrating, and has hopped off them while they hatch. But she’s careful not to let them get cold because the chicks inside the eggs still need her body-heat to keep them alive. See, sometimes she hops back on them to warm them up. They’re song thrushes you know, and the mother bird has to sit on her eggs for about twelve days before they’ll hatch.

Now, while we were talking, look, with a special little hook-thing, called an egg tooth, on the end of its beak the chick cuts the eggshell from the inside, in a little line across the end of the shell. The chick isn’t very strong and can’t even see, because there’s still skin over its eyes. Its feathers haven’t grown yet either, doesn’t he look scrawny? How does he know where to peck at the shell? It must be dark inside the shell but even if there was a light in there, the chick can’t see what he’s doing! Even though he hasn’t got much strength, by wiggling and squirming, he eventually breaks free from the shell. Ha, look at that, the piece of shell is sitting on his head! It looks like a funny hat!

Well, that was a fight to get out of the shell, wasn’t it? Now look, the other two chicks are nearly out of theirs too! They can hardly hold their heads up but see, they hear movement, and when they hear movement, they open their mouths! Oh not mouths, what are they? Beaks, yeah, beaks with edges of bright yellow and yellow inside, which makes it a good target for their mother to pop worms into it. Look over there… the father thrush is catching worms on the lawn for the babies too. It’s a hectic time for both parents and the faster they feed their chicks the quicker they grow but the more they want!

Ok, now it’s seven days later and the chicks have opened their eyes so they can see! They know when their parents are near because they have very good hearing, the chicks make a lot of noise to attract their parent’s attention and open their beaks like little yellow trapdoors! Mum and dad try to give each an equal share but there is always a greedy one, the male, he’s the one we’ve been watching the most. Notice, his feathers are growing, at first they were stubby and didn’t look like feathers at all.

They’ve reached day thirteen since they hatched, so it’s time for them to leave the nest. Watch them as they go! Their wings aren’t even properly developed yet, but one by one, starting with the big male, they just flop out of the nest and tumble to the ground. We can only follow our big one, but, uh oh, one of the chicks hasn’t make it, the last one out! Did you see? When it landed, a stoat took it away to feed her babies. No, don’t be sad, that’s the way of nature, even though it seems cruel to us. Luckily, our wee guy landed on his feet and is already calling, ‘Peep, peep, peep!’ to his mother for food. She responds with a fat worm and look how the chick gobbles it down, immediately calling, ‘Peep, peep, peep!’ for another  .

Our little thrush chick might not be able to fly, but he can hop, and hop really fast!  Look at him go! He tries to keep up with his mother to be close to food, but he doesn’t understand that there’s danger waiting everywhere! Look out! The man’s mowing his lawn, and the chick’s standing right in the way of the mower! Look out, run little chick run! The man isn’t watching where he’s going, and the chick’s just standing like a dumb cluck, right in the mower’s path! Oh dear, chopped thrush! No! Whew! The man’s noticed the chick just in time, stops, and shoos him away. There, our baby thrush has learned a valuable lesson.

Mother thrush is gathering worms, but as fast as she catches one, the chick, with persistent peep, peep, peeps, demands it with his open beak, which, if you look closely is beginning to lose it’s yellow edging! He receives his reward, but here comes the other chick too so the mother’s even busier, hardly having time to gobble one down herself! And where’s the dad, he’s done a bunk! She doesn’t seem to worry about feeding in turns now, it’s the first one to be there when she catches food. But hey, look up there, see the danger? A hawk’s circling way up there above them, slowly circling, eyes sharp! Mother sees the danger and tries to lure her babies to safety among the bushes. Quick! But the second chick is too slow! What’s she looking at? A brown beetle moving in the grass! Oh, she’s too late! She’s lost sight of her mother and look at that! In a split second, the fast-flying hawk has swooped down, caught the chick and is taking it back to feed her baby!

Our little thrush chick was quicker and is safe, learning more of the skills he needs for survival! Now that he’s the only one left, the mother is focusing on him, feeding him well, and just five days after falling from the nest, see how strong he is and his feathers are filling out. His wings are developed too so now watch, after feeding him, his mother flies off some distance before she hunts for another. This tricks him into trying his wings, because he’s in a hurry for more food. See, sometimes he has lift-off and sometimes he falls headfirst on landing! Ouch. But now he can fly away from danger and from that pesky striped cat of yours!

Ok, here we are, nine days after falling-time from the nest, and our little thrush can fly quite well, and look at him chase after his mother! He can find half of his own food now and he constantly looks around, checking for danger. And, he’s nearly as big as his mother, so it looks funny when she feeds him, doesn’t it? He can fly pretty well, even following his mother high into that lemonwood tree!

How many days is it now since he flopped out of the nest? Thirteen, that’s right. Is there any sign of the mother and the chick together? No, the mother has abandoned her chick, but that’s cool, he’ll survive on his own if he’s careful! Hey, what’s that I hear up in the tree? Why, it’s the grown-up thrush chick, and he’s singing his heart out! He’s doing just fine.

C’mon, I’ll beat you out to the mailbox!