Hello, world!

life is hard, even on your birthday

Mom robin has been carefully tending her eggs since Easter Sunday. And Dad has been chasing off would-be marauders--an aggressive bluejay one day and a pair of uber-interested mourning doves another. Because incubation takes 12-14 days, I couldn't resist grabbing my typical "blind" phone-camera shot after she left her nest this morning. Sorry the photo is unfocused; it had to be really quick. And there it was. Drooped over its siblings' eggs, that first baby robin looks exhausted! And naked. Brrrrr. According to information on the JOURNEY NORTH site...
Fighting its way out of the egg isn't easy for a chick. First it breaks a hole in the shell with its egg tooth, a hard hook on its beak. Then it must struggle with all its might, between periods of rest, to get out. No wonder hatching may take a whole day. The eggs usually hatch a day apart in the order they were laid. Naked, reddish, wet, and blind, the babies require A LOT of food. Now it becomes a full time job for both parents to protect the nest, find food, and feed the clamoring babies during the 9-16 days they spend in the nest.