Great tit
A beautiful couple of great tits rented the nest box that we received as a donation. Both female and male participated in building up the nest and, once completed, the female laid eggs after 2 weeks. Usually, she lays eggs soon after building the nest, but given this years’ cold temperature, she waited until the weather was better. In the end, she laid a total of 8 eggs, but 5 of them hatched and only two chicks survived. This has been a very long winter and unfortunately, not much food was available for many birds. Thus, only the strongest ones survived. On the first two to four days the chicks are pink with a bit of fluffy plumage, then the feathers start to form, and their base (called Calamus) is visible from under the skin. After a week their eyes start to open and at the age of ten days, their plumage is well developed and ready to fledge.
Blackbird
We found a blackbird nest at the end of April in Forsternrieder park, Bavaria, and with already 4 eggs! We monitored it every two days, and after two weeks, only two eggs hatched. Both chicks were well fed and, at ten days of age, their body was completely covered by plumage. At this age both were more aware of their surroundings, they did not open their mouth when we visit them, and they tried to hide under each other. Towards the third week of age, they left the nest empty and deformed.
Blackcap
A blackcap nest was found in Forsternrieder park on the 20th of May with only one egg laid. We visited the nest every two days and noticed that the number of eggs increased by one every day and now there is a total of 5 eggs. While observing it, we noticed that both male and female incubate the eggs. We are now looking forward to when they will all hatch!
